I’ve been asked many times this election season about my picks on various offices and issues.  What follows are my personal picks regarding the national and statewide issues and offices, with a few of our San Diego County issues thrown in to boot.  Where helpful, I’ll attach some commentary for clarity or humor (California propositions tend to visit us from the Twilight Zone).

My in-depth thoughts on appropriate government can be found in the last seven chapters of my book, UNGOD, Unmasking the Dark Image of Hell, but I’ll summarize here for brevity.  I believe that all charity should be private.  Government should never be the hand that doles out or controls charity, ever.  I also believe that all education should be private, except for that which is necessary for government to train those necessary for government work (law enforcement, military, etc.).

Here is the breakdown of the twelve basic things in which appropriate government should be involved:

1)      Pass a simple system of laws that honor and protect humanity’s  most precious asset – the image of God in us (Genesis 9:6b; Exodus 20:2)

2)      Enforce that system of laws (Genesis 9:5,6)

3)      Maintain an open, fair and free justice system (Exodus 18:21,22; Deuteronomy 19:15)

4)      Ensure capital punishment for murderers (Genesis 9:6), other serious offenders (Leviticus 20) and repeat offenders (Deuteronomy 21:18-21)

5)      Fine and/or physically punish minor offenders, after which they are to be set free (Leviticus 6:4,5; Deuteronomy 25:2,3)

6)      Quarantine those with dangerous, infectious diseases (Leviticus 13)

7)      Maintain secure borders against the rest of the world (Joshua 13-19; 2 Samuel 8:6,14)

8)      Maintain a national language (Genesis 11:7-9; 2 Kings 18:26)

9)      Avenge and protect the blood of its people upon the world stage (1 Samuel 15:2,3)

10)  Maintain its roadways that its people may move about freely (Deuteronomy 19:3)

11)  Mint the coin of the realm (Exodus 30:13)

12)  Tax all of its people an equal percentage of their income to maintain these services (Leviticus 27:30)

With that in mind, here are my personal picks and thoughts for Election 2016:

PRESIDENT/VICE PRESIDENT

Trump/Pence.  Trump was not my first choice, but we simply must not give the reins of government to Hillary Clinton.  She, like Obama, is a small “a” antichrist (see 1 John 2:18).  It’s sad for me to contemplate, but it seems to me that after 226 years of the U.S. Constitution we are for all intents and purposes finished with Constitutional rule, and are entering the Strongman phase of our Republic’s history.  We have had a strongman for eight years, and the only way to reset back to Constitutionalism is for a reasonable strongman to forcibly reset government back to within Constitutionalism and then step aside.  That is the absolute best for which we can hope.  Apart from that, we can hope for a strongman who desires the best for his or her country.  Or we can get another one who wants to fundamentally transform this nation into an unrecognizable cesspool.

FEDERAL SENATOR, CALIFORNIA

We have the choice between two Democrats: Kamala Harris and Loretta Sanchez.  California is officially out of testosterone at this point.  My research seems to indicate that Sanchez is less bad.

FEDERAL REPRESENTATIVES, CALIFORNIA

49^th District: Darrell Issa

50 District: Duncan Hunter

STATE ASSEMBLY

75^th District: Marie Waldron

STATEWIDE PROPOSITIONS

Note: We have 17 of these on the ballot this time around.  Never have I been quite so ashamed of what comes out of Sacramento.  Generally, if it’s hard to remember all of these, vote “no” on all of them and you’ll be doing us a favor.  Anything that increases the size of the California government, or sends more money to it, should be slapped down as fast as we can do so.  Of course, that doesn’t mean that the courts won’t make it happen anyway…

Prop 51: No.  More ridiculous school funding.  They never learn to do it right.  Why give them more?

Prop 52: No.  Government has no business in healthcare.  Don’t make things worse.

Prop 53: Yes.  Make it harder for them to spend big sums of money.

Prop 54: Yes.  Slow the yahoos down, and force them into some transparency.

Prop 55: No.  The wealthy owe no more a percentage of their income for supporting healthcare and education than do the poor.

Prop 56: No. Get government out of living off the backs of smokers and dippers.  How about just getting government out of where it doesn’t belong?

Prop 57: No.  Keep the bad guys behind bars.

Prop 58: No.  English-immersion in schools is doing fine.

Prop 59: No.  This is an assault on free speech.

Prop 60: No.  This one makes me want to take a bath.  I thought liberals wanted to stay out of our bedrooms.  Really – condoms required for porn stars?  One friend told me this was like requiring kamikaze pilots to be buckled in…

Prop 61: No.  More government meddling in healthcare.

Prop 62: No.  Keep the death penalty.

Prop 63: No.  We must by all means protect our right to keep and bear arms, and the ammunition they require.  All other Constitutional rights depend on this one remaining intact.  Stand firmest here.

Prop 64: No.  The State wants to legalize marijuana, and grow fat off of taxing it.  Nice.

Prop 65: No.  Plastic grocery bag nonsense.  The State is jealous of the retailers, and wants its share of the income

Prop 66: Yes.  This strengthens and streamlines the death penalty process.

Prop 67: No.  More plastic grocery bag nonsense.  This one would outlaw them altogether.

SAN DIEGO COUNTY PROPOSITIONS

Measure A: No.  Taxes are high enough already in the county.  Trim your budgets, knuckleheads.

Measure B: Yes.  Let them build some new houses.  All of our properties were once the wilds or were zoned differently.  Get over it.

FALLBROOK PROPOSITION

Measure AA: No.  Our taxes are high enough.  The high school district should have to budget the same way our families and churches do.  My property value is not a golden goose.

Well folks, hope that helps a bit.  Make sure you get out and vote this year!

God bless.

Pastor Barry