Ken Proctor* of the Libertarian party on his philosophy:

Unfortunately, over the past several years our freedoms have been under attack. Government bailouts of a selected few “too big to fail” companies and preferential treatment of certain industries and politically-powerful groups violate every principle the Founding Fathers stood for. I, and the other candidates running on the Libertarian Party ticket, are determined to reverse these trends. Our government should NOT be picking winners and losers in our economy and American life. It SHOULD guarantee equal opportunities for all people, groups and businesses to grow and prosper, and then get out of the way. To do this we must work together to change the face of American politics.

Over the past several years Michigan has offered hundreds of millions of dollars in incentives and subsidies to trendy “green energy” companies and the film industry. Democrats and Republicans joined to enact a new Michigan Business Tax, and a steep surcharge on that tax, to dramatically increase the taxes paid by most businesses across Michigan, while dramatically decreasing the taxes paid by the politically powerful Big Three automakers. They also diverted federal “stimulus” money to guarantee the jobs of politically powerful state employee unions, rather than create more private jobs. Bringing new businesses to Michigan is great, but not when the companies are lured by government incentives that do not require the companies to be profitable to survive. Witness the steep job cuts by the ethanol and solar power manufacturers lured to Michigan by those incentives. That money was foolishly spent.

Michigan has been cutting deals with large corporations in “cool” industries but over-taxing and over-regulating the small businesses, the true heart of Michigan’s economy, to the point where the owners close their doors and leave for greener pastures. They flee to Texas, Florida or other states where there is no Michigan Business Tax, no personal income tax, and new employees can’t be required to join a union as a condition of employment.

He has a much more conservative Platform than Rick and his green energy and cool cities, Granholm lite agenda.

*I will keep researching Ken Proctor and keep a sharp eye on Rick Snyder as we get closer to november 2nd.

An extra big tip O’ the hat to Jason @ Right Michigan