*** MEDIA ALERT ***
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Contact: JOSEPH W. KOPSICK
August 28th, 2019 608-417-9395 / jwkopsick@gmail.com
Local Man Enters Race for
U.S. House
Lake Bluff Native Joe Kopsick Seeks 10th District Office
Mr. Kopsick, 32, seeks
the seat representing Illinois's 10th Congressional
District. Kopsick, a native of Lake Bluff and a current resident of
Waukegan, will run as an independent write-in candidate, but is also
considering seeking the nomination of the Libertarian Party and other
parties. Kopsick is an advocate of limited constitutional government, supports dealing with most issues on a local basis, and would aim to reduce the number of federal departments by between five and seven.
Kopsick pledges to operate as a home style politician, focusing his campaign and
office resources on Illinois's 10th District. He would
also support legislative efforts to impose term limits upon of the
office of U.S. Representative, as well as to reduce the salary and
benefits of that position. Kopsick intends these reforms as steps
towards establishing a government in which all public service is done on a volunteer basis, and he hopes to author
legislation which would allow recall elections for all officials in
all jurisdictions.
Joseph W. Kopsick
attended Lake Bluff and Lake Forest public schools, and has lived in
Lake County, Illinois his whole life, aside from a few years spent in
Wisconsin and Oregon during his twenties. In 2009, Kopsick graduated
from the University of Wisconsin at Madison, where he studied U.S.
government, legal philosophy, political science, political theory,
and other related topics. Kopsick lived in Portland, Oregon briefly
from 2013 to 2015, where he conducted independent research on
homelessness and independent business alliances affecting the area.
Mr. Kopsick ran for U.S. House of Representatives three times
previously; from Wisconsin's 2nd District in 2012,
Oregon's 3rd District in 2014, and Illinois's 10th
District in 2016.
Kopsick hopes to use his
education in political theory and legal ethics – as well as his
subsequent independent studies of alternative proposals for economic
systems - to bring a fresh perspective to legislation. Kopsick hopes
that this perspective will guide voters and legislators to support
and author new legislative proposals which will help to achieve both
freedom and equality for all those who reside in the United States.
Kopsick describes
himself as a political independent, an “open borders libertarian”
who supports “minimal vetting” at the border, and a supporter of
“markets, not capitalism”. He supports restoring freedom through
reviving the 9th Amendment (thus ending the government's
monopoly to issue licenses and permits), and revoking the
government's powers to create and insure corporations, and revoking
its powers to subsidize businesses and pass legislation which favors
them and insulates them from competition and legal responsibility.
Kopsick supports the
full repeal of the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare), and would consider replacing it with what he calls a “truly optional public option”
such as “Medicare for All Who Want It” or “Medicare for All,
but Opt Out”. Kopsick believes that the Republicans do have
a viable health plan, but he would not support the “state lines
plan” unless accompanied with additional reforms providing for tax
relief and price relief.
Kopsick
is pro-choice - and supports keeping abortion legal, free, and safe –
but he opposes funding abortion with taxpayer funds. Kopsick
additionally supports prohibiting infanticide and third-term
abortions, and hopes to reduce the number of abortions without
resorting to any legislative means, besides those prohibitions, to do
so. Kopsick opposes federal gun control; and supports strengthening
the 2nd Amendment, in a manner which empowers Americans to
stay armed, while also taking steps toward abolishing draft
registration and the Selective Service.
Kopsick's top five most
urgent legislative priorities are: 1) limiting and re-negotiating the
power and scope of the federal government; 2) enacting serious budget
solvency reforms while paying off the national debt; 3) reforming
markets which Kopsick considers “rigged”, “unfree”, and
plagued with monopolies and taxpayer-funded special privileges; 4) reforming schools, and child protection and custody laws, in a
manner which keeps children safe while preparing them with the
education and skills they will need for a technologically advanced
economy; and 5) advocating for the increased taxation of unimproved land value (Land Value Taxation) by the most local agencies possible, while reducing taxes upon sources of revenue other than unimproved land value. Kopsick additionally supports replacing the Environmental Protection Agency (E.P.A.) with "Community Land Trusts" in every community or county, in order to keep environmental issues as local as possible.
Kopsick hopes to avoid
having to overturn Citizens United, but
supports numerous reforms to ballot access and the Electoral College
which will give independents and third parties the assistance they
need to compete fairly with established parties. Kopsick hopes
that, by reducing the set of issues in which the federal government
is involved, it will be unnecessary to overturn Citizens United,
because money will leave politics as soon as lobbyists realize that
elected officials are strictly prohibited from regulating industries
which the lobbyists wish them to regulate in favor of the interests
they represent.
Kopsick
believes he can reduce political strife and social conflict by
focusing on “objectively desirable, popular reforms” which he
says include limiting government, balancing budgets and restoring
fiscal sanity, and ending business privileges which rig markets and
stop customers from being able to make choices. Kopsick also
considers election reform, infrastructure, and veterans' issues to be
among the least divisive issues, which could potentially help unite
the nation behind a clear set of principles regarding what the
government is supposed to do for us.
Kopsick currently works as a private security officer at various locations throughout Lake County. In his spare time, he enjoys playing guitar and piano, making mashup music, and drawing.
Kopsick manages a blog, the Aquarian Agrarian, which can be found at www.aquarianagrarian.blogspot.com. Kopsick plans to launch an official personal website, featuring a section on campaigns. Voters can read his platform by visiting that blog, and reading Kopsick's August 2019 articles “Reform or Abolition: Thirty-Point Basic Platform for U.S. House of Representatives in 2020” and “Expanded Platform for U.S. House of Representatives in 2020”.
Kopsick manages a blog, the Aquarian Agrarian, which can be found at www.aquarianagrarian.blogspot.com. Kopsick plans to launch an official personal website, featuring a section on campaigns. Voters can read his platform by visiting that blog, and reading Kopsick's August 2019 articles “Reform or Abolition: Thirty-Point Basic Platform for U.S. House of Representatives in 2020” and “Expanded Platform for U.S. House of Representatives in 2020”.
The election for U.S. Representative from Illinois's 10th District will be held on Tuesday, November 3rd, 2020, the same day as the election for president and vice president of the United States.
In addition to Mr. Kopsick, who filed as an independent, three other candidates have filed to run for the U.S. House of Representatives from Illinois's 10th District; the incumbent Democrat, another Democrat, and a Republican.
Written on August 25th, 2019
Published on August 25th, 2019
Edited on August 27th and 28th, 2019
Edited on August 27th and 28th, 2019
