James Azzola

Republican

Candidate’s Links:

Office Sought: Representative – District 41
Age: 57
Occupation: Consulting Engineer
Education: PhD in Engineering
Family: Partner
Hometown: Portland

Political experience

I’ve been working to promote individual freedom in America for many years, mostly through Campaign for Liberty, an organizational outgrowth of the Ron Paul presidential campaigns. Locally, I support the Portland GOP, the recent marijuana initiative and other pro-freedom grassroots projects.

In 2014, I ran for the same legislative seat in Portland’s District 41, learning much about the needs of those citizens in the district.

Why are you running for office?

Because I believe Maine is heading down the wrong path of putting its trust in a government/corporate led future, rather than a citizen-centered approach, and because I have what I believe to be unique proposals to solve its many problems.

First and foremost, relying on tax incentives, subsidies, loans, giveaways and favored contract status ostensibly to attract large employers to the state is a misguided policy, better described as corporate welfare. Already the results of these programs are manifest – empty business parks and taxpayers stuck paying the bills. We must end these programs and return capital back to ordinary Mainers (those without paid lobbyists in Augusta) so they can spend and invest on their own to better grow our economy organically.

Secondarily, we need to promote a more competitive and productive business environment through lower taxes, fewer regulations and more choice for educational and healthcare options.

Third, we need to adopt legalized cannabis and a Maine State Bank, a unique idea to foster a sound, inflation proof currency backed by silver and gold. This is a more traditional type of money designed to provide competition to the dollar, similar to Bitcoin or PayPal, but with both digital and corporeal options, together with an ironclad government guaranteed precious metal backing. This bank has 100% collateral backing and makes no loans, and will never experience a run or bankruptcy. Currently, with the world flooded in central bank induced debt and zero interest rates, traditional banks and investments are experiencing elevated risk profiles. With a Maine State Bank, investment money seeking safety from around the world will pour into this state. Through the start of a new, lucrative industry, Maine has the potential to become the Switzerland of North America.

Both of these measures will promote healthier business growth, which is what this state desperately needs.

• Income Tax: Gov. LePage would like to lower Maine’s income tax rate and eventually eliminate it, by increasing the state’s sales tax and expanding it across a broader range of goods and services. Do you support this proposal?
  • While I agree with a lower income tax, increasing the sales tax and expanding its reach is a counterproductive idea. Already there is a business blight from Kittery to Saco due to the existing high sales tax differential with New Hampshire. Every time I drive through the Rochester mall, I notice a preponderance of Maine license plates. We are squandering opportunity and suppressing business development on our side of the border. The sales tax is too regressive and should be substantially reduced.

    Overall, Maine is not competitive. It is in the top 10 states with the highest combination of income and sales tax, currently around 12%. It has been dead last or nearly so in the Forbes’ annual list of favorable business environments for years. For Maine to excel, it must reduce taxes and trim regulations.

    Only then will Maine reverse the flood of young people fleeing our educational nests to find better opportunity elsewhere, a compounding factor suppressing a vibrant economy.

• Background Checks: Do you support background checks for privately sold firearms in Maine?
  • No. While I support prudent measures to prevent irresponsible firearm use, I do not support bending the 4th Amendment in order to satisfy the whims of gun control advocates. None of the hard line measures designed to curb gun violence work, as criminals readily circumnavigate rules to obtain firearms.

    Moreover, there are healthy ways to curb gun violence. The clearest path is to stop the insane war on drugs, which not only threatens everyone’s civil liberties, it also creates untold numbers of gang related deaths in our inner cities and throughout drug trafficking countries around the world. Start this process by legalizing marijuana for responsible adults. In the long run, once the drug wars are eradicated, there will be a dramatic drop in the number of drug gang related firearm deaths.

    To prevent serial killer type massacres, our society needs to take mental health problems more seriously. We also need to challenge the pharmaceutical monopoly on dispensing psychotropic drugs.

• Minimum Wage: In light of the ballot question facing voters this fall, do you support raising the state’s minimum wage from $7.50 to $12 an hour by 2020?
  • No. Maine needs to eliminate the Minimum Wage, a feel-good measure which does nothing more than make a few politicians look good because they can quote higher wages, while ignoring the fact that unemployment went up as a result. Have you ever wondered what happened to ushers at theaters? Because of the minimum wage today’s youth can’t be hired at competitive wages for this important function of the theater business to be viable.

    Did you know in places where the cost of living is extremely low, such as American Samoa, tuna can factories had to fire all their thousands of workers because the US Minimum Wage was increased in 2007 from $3.35/hr to $5.50/hr when the cost of living in Samoa was less than 1/2 what it was in the States?

    Restaurants in Seattle, where the minimum wage was recently increased to $15, are experiencing trouble staying open, as owners have had to drop workers from their payrolls.

    It makes no sense for government to set wages to where teenagers are unemployable.

• Marijuana: Do you support legalization of marijuana for recreational use?
  • Yes. In order to allay many fears, drugs will never be legal for kids. But legalizing drugs for responsible adults is the best policy towards keeping drugs away from kids.

    Have you ever wondered why your kids have ready access to marijuana? The reason is simple – because of the black market. Eliminating this route will make it more difficult for teenagers to gain access. Already Colorado statistics show no increase in teenage use in 2+ years, and kids report tougher impediments to obtaining it.

    As a matter of fact, Colorado data again shows no increase in adult use in 2+ years since their law passed. Yet Colorado’s coffers are filled with tax revenue, and violent gang style crime is down. Many towns have banned either the cultivation and/or sale of marijuana products, and in those towns where these activities are legal, business has boomed. Maine’s Initiative One has similar measures for town-specific bans.

    MJ legalization has been win-win for society. I endorse Yes on One!.

• Addiction/Overdoses: Do you believe the state is doing enough in response to the rise in heroin/opiate addiction and overdoses? If not, what else should be done?
  • Not at all. Look at Portugal’s Law 30 decriminalizing all drugs like heroin in 2000. In the last 15 years, addiction rates have diminished, and addicts have since emerged from the shadows to receive treatment. Law enforcement costs, including police, judicial and prison, have all declined.

    This is exactly the type of policy Maine needs to pursue – a far more rational approach centered on prevention, HARM reduction, counseling and other professional help with far less attention directed towards punitive measures.

    None of the fears people had prior to the decriminalization measure passing were realized. Portugal didn’t turn into a massive drug haven, and there was no increase in lawlessness. In addition, community relations with police have improved significantly as civil rights have been restored.

    Again, this is a win-win across the board and a far better policy for Maine to pursue.

    https://www.drugpolicy.org/sites/default/files/DPA_Fact_Sheet_Portugal_Decriminalization_Feb2015.pdf