Forum. Tonight is the first of two debates among the libertarian president ial candidates. Given that the president ial frontrunners, Hillary Clinton and donald trump have huge unfavorability ratings worse than any candidate in 30 years, its time to hear from with us tonight are the three leading libertarian candidates and i say bleeding because they place first, second and third in polling conducted by the Libertarian Party. First former new mexico governor gary johnson and then tech entrepreneur, john mcafee, third libertarian republic founder Austin Petersen. Candidates tonights rules are simple. I or someone else will ask you a question and you get one minute to respond, 30 seconds for a followup Response Rate if you go over your time you will hear this. Please dont go past your time. Before we start the questions each candidate has an Opening Statement to governor johnson since you were first in the early polls you start. Well i am gary johnson and i would like everyone to know that i have a wonderful family. His son eric, daughter saeb granddaughter cora and fiance best friend kate. Kate and i share a passion for health and wellness and its great to be in love and im in love. I have also been on to bend over my entire life. I was the kid that was throwing newspapers but in college i started a oneman handyman business and actually grew that business to employ over 1000 people. Money for me, business for me has always represented freedom. I sold the business in 1999. Nobody lost their jobs. The business went on to new heights. In business i learned some really valuable lessons. One is the magic of sharing in the process. The other is showing up on time, keeping your word. Its amazing how the simple principles work. I got elected governor of new mexico. Ive never been involved in politics before prior to getting elected governor of new mexico. New mexico is a state that is to have someone democrat. I promise to bring a commonsense business approach to state government. In that context i may have vetoed more legislation than the other 49 governors in the country combined. 750 feet does, thousands of them line item vetoes. I think it made a difference. I got elected by bigger margin the second time. Im also an athlete and adventure. Ive climbed the highest mountains on each of the seven continents, something that was the goal of mine and something that i have achieved. Im hoping to ride the divide next summer if im not elected president. John mr. Mcafee. Libertarianism is grounded in the concept of liberty but that is liberty quite slippery means our bodies and our minds belong to ourselves is liberty is lost when governments decide what is right or wrong regarding what we may do with ourselves. Every law that is try to restrict or limit personal freedoms and personal liberty has failed. Governments and countries have from allies prostitution or homosexuality. Legislate what ideas we may teach our children. They criminalize the subject of alcohol or other drugs and what is the result . Our war on drugs has not diminished because the consumption of Illegal Drugs has nearly filled our prisons with nonviolent citizens and created the most powerful and brutal job cartel in the world. Prohibition did not reduce the consumption of alcohol. It created suffering through punishment and gave lives to organized crime. Ideas like evolution but ideas have a life of their own and cannot be extinguished. Liberty which is personal freedom cannot be restricted through laws. It can only be unjustly punished as it is expressed. Giving rise to suffering throughout society. We are all libertarians on the stage and you are libertarians here. Im hoping that this debate will make clear tonight the value of liberty in all things rate the fact that liberty is very existence depends on privacy and its the foundation of a sane and prosperous society. John mr. Peterson. [applause] first off thank you john and thank you to fox business for hosting this forum but i was born in independence missouri. Was raised in a horse farm a short drive from a town called liberty. Coincidence . I will let you be the judge. I learned about economic liberty when my parents sent me into the fields to play in the chrysanthemums and sell them to people in my small town. Learn about personal liberty from those who taught me about the golden rule. I believe people are inherently good and they can be trusted with freedom and that freedom should be as expansive as possible. The role of government is to protect our liberty, not our security. Thats what the 2nd amendment is for. Im a grassroots candidate with a Real National campaign. I have an army behind my back up and volunteering for me and financing me the entire way. Im a fiscally conservative candidate for 0 Campaign Debt and i budgeted my funds in the same manner that i would govern. Im proving that you can do more with less. I may be the youngest candidate in this race but im the oldest in libertarian years. Im the antiestablishment candidate in this antiestablishment party. Im here to shake things up and inspire a generational liberty movement. I believe im the only candidate on the stage to inspire coalition of libertarians conservatives reasonable democrats and independents back to win. Im prolife, proconstitution and profreedom. My plan is to take over the governments i can leave everyone alone. Thank you. The revolution continues. [applause] john on two questions. The main hits a year but libertarians are couple of things. The first is we are naive or soft on terror. We dont understand the need to keep america safe. We are isolationists. Governor johnson you said you would cut military spending. Why would americans feel safe with u. S. President . There is a very real terrorist threat out there and to address that we need to cut off the funding but when it comes to military intervention i think our military interventions have made things worse. The fact that we put troops on the ground in the fact that we drop alms and. John flights kill thousands of innocent people making the situation much worse. Also this really the capriciousness if you will of the executive to engage in these military interventions as opposed to involving congress. I would love to see a simplified mechanism for congress weighing in on our military intervention, something that i think is really cornerstone to our system of government let Congress Debate and discuss militarily intervening. John mr. Mcafee people say libertarians are isolationists. Isolationists in terms of other nations. Not at all. I think isolationism is taking on the role of World Policing making us a separate entity from the rest of the world were we are the policeman and you are the people we police. We are not isolationists at all. We are inclusive. Our interference in the affairs of foreign states dropping bombs on families where mothers and fathers are killed our brothers and sisters. I would be angry to and you would be angry too. Its not isolationism to say we need to bring our chips home or that we need to stop interfering with the affairs of foreign nations. Its reality and practicality. John mr. Petersen. Obviously terrorism is a threat but we have got to resist these politicians who are going to fear monger as an excuse to take away our liberties. We have got to stand up to people who use every tragedy as an excuse to take away our constitutional rights. Albus and Thomas Jefferson had the islamic terrorist of his day and he managed to fight them constitutionally protected 9 11 congressman ron paul went to the congress and asked for letters of reprisal. Congress should update these letters. Article i section 8 of the constitution would give us a powerful 225 basis in a way that doesnt involve invasion occupation and nationbuilding. No matter what they want to defend our National Security we should only go to war with the decoration of war. The president should always obey the constitution and the fine commanderinchief have promised to only go to work its constitutional and to obey the law. [applause] john a quick answer please, when is a right to go to work . When attacked. My question is whether we have wore . John people want to kill us. We are operating under the the war is john when should congress, if we have a significant threat there are circumstances when the United States may go to war but we should only do so through due process. Another thing we are criticized for, we are soft on drugs. People think libertarian means libertine. Some say libertarians encourage drug use. Mr. Mcafee you first. What is a drug . Almost everyone in america joins out the hall. Coffee is a drug. Cigarettes or drugs. Being soft on drugs what does that actually mean . I think whats happening now we have declared war and everything including drugs. Why . Certain people prefer alcohol to marijuana or certain people prefer or wanted to heroin. What is the difference . To heroin addict addiction is its own punishment. Is that being soft . No. You are responsible for the repercussions of your choices and if you are taking drugs you have to live with that. [applause] john thank you candidates and viewers i thank you for your suggestions via social media. If more of you want to join the discussion follow me at twittered at john stossel and use the hashtag stossel for more like my Facebook Page so you can post there. Coming up questions about the size of government. What should we cut and more about war. When should we go to war . Bad and much more when we return. [applause] youve finally earned enough reward miles on your Airline Credit card. Now you just book a seat, right . Not quite. Sometimes those seats are out of reach, costing an outrageous number of miles. Its time to switch. To the capital one venture card. With venture, youll earn unlimited double miles on every purchase, every day. And when youre ready to travel, just book the flight you want, on any airline and use your miles to cover the cost. Now thats more like it. Whats in your wallet . Weinto a new american century. 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Thats why you can schedule an installation at a time that works for you. Even late at night, or on the weekend, if thats what you need. Because you have enough to worry about. I did not see that coming. Dont deal with disruptions. Get Better Internet installed on your schedule. Comcast business. Built for business. [applause] john welcome back to our libertarian president ial forum. On facebook lonnie post people say libertarians will cut the safety net, welfare programs to nonexistent so how would you address the welfare state and should be replaced . How is it not effective in what should happen . Mr. Petersen. I am attacking plan that would cut acrosstheboard. This is called bait cutting plan and this would put us on the path of a balanced budget. Yes i do think we need to cut away some of the social safety nets that we should not do it overnight. My plan cuts 1 penny for every federal dollar acrosstheboard that if congress decides one program is too important such as medicare and medicaid they could make it an equal corresponding cut. Also moves the budget balanced Budget Amendment to me to force congress to live with their me means. 18 of the total gdp, the American People have to balance their checkbook, so should congress that right now the gdp, debttogdp ratio is 105 . Force them to stay with them a lot no more than 18 of gdp cut the budget acrosstheboard. Everybody takes a haircut. Thats how we shrink government and nobodys going to be hurting. John nobody is going to be hurting he says. People say libertarians are not going to take at the poor. Having been governor of new mexico i can identify what i believe are those people that are truly in need and if there was a safety net i think that would be bad. I want to support those that are truly in need that we have gone way up the line when it comes to that. I think the Biggest Issue facing this country right now is the fact that government is too big. Spends too much money and taxes too much. I would be proposing a balanced budget to congress which would be a 20 reduction in federal spending and to do that youve got to include medicaid, medicare, military spending and to do that you would devolve medicaid and medicare to the states. In my heart of hearts as governor of new mexico is the federal government would have given me a medicaid and medicare with 20 less money i could have delivered health care. I could have administered or seen the administration 20 less money to deliver those services. When it comes to the military a 20 reduction in the military only goes back a handful of years. [applause] john mr. Mcafee would you cut the welfare programs for the poor . This is a complex issue. Lets look at the Social Security. They have the largest drain on the federal budget at over 700 billion and get everyone on Social Security paid money that they worked hard to earn into a system that the government promised would pay them back when they were older. [applause] that is a commitment that we made as a government and as libertarians do we not meet our commitments . Its an obligation. If the allegations that we are not meeting which are the problem. The veterans. We send young men and women off to war saying risk your life and your limb for your country and when you come back without limbs we are sorry. We will give you the lowest possible care. [applause] johns are nice thoughts but what specifically would you cut . Agencies for example. The state is a great that everyone endeavors to live at the expense of everyone else. I would cut the mall. United states should not be charity. Charity is given from the heart. We need to get back to that. That is what made america great. We have to remove the role of charity and society. Families friends neighbors churches and communities society. Where is the love for one another . Government doesnt love us. We need to go back to a system where people can take care of one another. The Catholic Church would love to step in and do charity but the government gets in the way and obamacare has destroyed our Health Care Health care system. As president i would demand congress overturn the aca on day one. [applause] john governor johnson do you agree . A couple of standup startup about. The department of congress promotes crony capitalism more than the department of congress. [applause] a person of education, here at the arguments. One of your ignorance is the federal government gives each state 11 cents out of every School Dollar in every state spent by the comes with 15 cents worth of Strings Attached by the federal government says you have to do abc and d inheres 11 cents to do that. The department of education was established after jimmy carter, not george washington. What is valueadded about the department of education since carter did that . Nothing. [applause] john thank you gentlemen. Coming up some uncomfortable personal questions for each candidate that first before we return a little bit about terry specifically, isis. [applause] e trade is all about seizing opportunity. So im going to take this opportunity to go off script. So if i wanna go to jersey and check out shotsy tuccerellis portfolio, whats it to you . Or im a scottish mason whose assets are made of stone like me heart. Papa youre no son of mine or perhaps its time to seize the day. Dont just see opportunity, seize it applause [applause] john we are back with the three leading libertarian president ial candidates. One thing democrats republicans and libertarians agree on is its governments job to protect us from foreign threats. He people say libertarians wont make us safe. Mr. Mcafee as president what would you do about isis . Thats an easy answer. I didnt get a chance to say which program. The fda serves a very limited purpose. [applause] what would i do about isis . Isis its a problem of intelligence gathering more than anything else. We have the capacity. Is anybody doing terrorist acts inside of china or russia . They are so far ahead of us from a cybersecurity standpoint meaning intelligence gathering in the modern age. We should know well in advance before every terrorist attack on the planet and yet we do not. We do not or if we do we are not telling anybody. Its one of the greatest tragedies that we need new training. We need to make ourselves up to date. We are 20 years behind the chinese and russia. John that alone would protect us . Im sorry . John intelligence alone would protect us . Let me give an example. We have the capacity using pattern recognition without having to listen to anybodys conversation or invade anybodys privacy to determine what a terror cell is. They have anonymous medications. Leaders will take a different phone and throw it away every day. They use only outgoing phonecalls. When a terrorist attack is about to happen there is a flow through the chain of command. These things are easily identifiable in todays cyber science world rated so if we could protect them and prevent every terrorist attack would that not help us . The first of a would do is obey the constitution respect the Fourth Amendment right to american citizens. We can fight isis. They havent attacked our own habitat for homeland such as garland texas so they are sincere threat that if we obey the constitution and we follow the advice of the founders and we listen to congressman ron paul there are thousands of grizzled veterans that a