David Armstrong

Candidate for: Utah House of Representatives District #17

Political party: Constitution

Birth date: 1953

Birth place: Long Beach, CA

Current city of residence: Kaysville

Family members: wife and three children

Current occupation: Software engineer

Education: B.A. Education, BYU 1977; M.S. Instructional Technology, Univ. Southern Calif. 1992

Hobbies/Interests: Hiking, music, reading, web site programming

1. Using 150 to 200 words, please state your reasons for running for office. What compels you to take on this responsibility?
    
   I have no interest in public office. I am not a campaigner. However, no one else stepped forward in House District 17 to stand for office on the Constitution Party ticket and publicly take up the cause. Rather than leave the legislative seat in my district uncontested to others who do not represent my feelings and sentiments and beliefs regarding the many issues that face us, I offer my services as a candidate. Someone who will support the principles of Constitutional government and personal liberty must speak up in this election. There are those in Kaysville, Fruit Heights, and North Farmington, which comprises House District 17, whose voices need to be heard, who need a viable choice, and for whom they can cast their sacred vote in good conscience. I am honored, if a little overwhelmed, to ask those good people to cast their vote for me. I would be honored to serve them and to speak for them in our state legislature.
    
2. What do you consider to be the top three issues currently facing Utah? Please list them in order of priority to you (with #1 the most important) and explain why they are important to you and to Utah.
    
   a) Jobs and Economic Development
   People must work to live. Without a way to make a livelihood, people suffer economically, socially, spiritually and physically.  Further, we need jobs that pay more than subsistence wages. Jobs with decent wages mean security and prosperity for the workers and their families and growth for the economy. There are a number of threats to jobs and to economic development. Inflation driven by escalating energy prices is destroying the purchasing power of the dollars earned by workers. Massive influxes of illegal immigrants steal jobs and depress wages while putting a strain on the political and financial infrastructure of the state. The erosion of our nation borders only exacerbates the problems as jobs move south. We have lost our position as a producer nation. We are now a consumer nation. Our economy is based on spending and borrowing rather than on producing and saving. We must do all we can in Utah to attract industry, to enable profitability, and to secure good-paying jobs for those who want to work.
   b)      Crime and Security
   People must feel safe in their homes and in their neighborhoods. It is appropriate to be cautious and prudent, but we should not have to raise our families in fear. Enforcing law and protecting the citizenry from lawless acts is a legitimate responsibility of government. The Second Amendment to the US Constitution guarantees the right of citizens to keep and bear arms. While encouraging and strengthening the appropriate authorities to execute their offices to prosecute crime and protect the community, we should not surrender our rights of self-defense and self-protection.
   c)      Taxes
   Government costs money. The pursuit of lawful and constitutional goals by the federal, state, and local governments requires funding. We as citizens should pay for the services we receive. However, when the government undertakes to create social programs that rob us of the opportunity to exercise our agency to perform charitable, humanitarian acts by taking from us our livelihood and by forcing us to participate in programs of enforced redistribution of wealth, it has stepped beyond its lawful and constitution bounds. At the same time, the government should be required to be as fiscally responsible in its income and spending as it expects its citizens to be.
    
3. What do you plan to do to address your top three issues?
    
   a.      Jobs and Economic Development
   Remove economic and regulatory barriers to new business, and in particular to goods-producing industries.  Enact tough laws against undocumented workers, such as has been done in Arizona, to protect the jobs and wages of legal workers.
   b.      Crime and Security
   Oppose legislation and regulation that would encroach on the Second Amendment right of law-abiding citizens to keep and bear arms. Support legislation that strengthens and properly funds the prosecution of crime and the punishment of criminals.
   c.      Taxes
   Oppose legislation that expands the role of government in the private economic and moral affairs of individuals and that funds and supports idleness and that creates a socialistic welfare state. Support a balanced budget and a prudent reserve. Ensure that taxes are levied fairly upon those who receive the services and not simply dig into the deepest pockets.
    
4. What are your most important accomplishments that would make you the most qualified candidate for office?
    
   I have raised a good family. My children are good, decent, law-abiding citizens who are trying to raise their own families. I have held steady employment throughout my adult life. I have acquired an advanced education through personal effort and hard work. In my professional career I have managed people and projects and budgets, and I have learned how to get things done. I have little public service experience except for two years on the Kaysville Safety Committee. I have much experience, however, serving my neighbors and my church. I have become a student of the US Constitution, and I believe wholeheartedly in its precepts and principles as I am coming to know them. I know how to be a good provider for my family, a good husband and father, a good neighbor, a good worker, a good citizen of this state and nation, and a good human being. I have no other qualifications to offer except a willingness to serve.
    
5. What skills, talents, and strengths do you have that enhance your ability to be an effective office holder?
    
   I am organized, practical, detail oriented, and systematic. As a software developer and a systems analyst, I understand how to analyze and understand processes. I learn quickly, but I also think things through to a logical conclusion. I do not jump to conclusions without facts. While I am not a great extemporaneous debater, I am articulate and thoughtful. Having taught college-level courses off and on for several years, I have no problem speaking before groups in public.
    
6. Why do you belong to your political party? 
    
   I left the Republican Party in 2002 after becoming disillusioned by the party’s inability to live by its own precepts and platform. I found that the Constitution Party espouses correct principles of constitutional government and abides by those principles. It does not compromise its principles to win votes or gain influence. I believe the Constitution is a divinely inspired document. I believe this nation needs to be restored to its republican Constitutional government. The Constitution Party represents those beliefs and is gathering like-minded people. I do not vote like I would bet in a football pool, hoping to pick a winner. My vote is between me and my conscience. I must vote for what is right and true, whether or not it is popular or has a chance to win. I wish to be associated with others who think the same way. I have found them in the Constitution Party.