Republican forum hosts senate candidates

Republican Bill Parson says that if elected to the U.S. Senate, he would push to force the federal government out of the states' business.

"I would fight aggressively against any piece of legislation that's not in the enumerated powers of the Constitution," he said.

That, he said, means eliminating many of the federal agencies he sees as violating states' rights and exceeding Constitutional authority, including the departments of Energy, Education, Labor, Health and Human Services and the EPA.

He argued that each state should have the power to decide whether to replace or recreate the services those agencies now provide.

"I'm a state sovereignty advocate even though I'm running for federal office," said Parson, from Las Vegas.

But, while he agrees with many of the positions taken by Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas, Parson said it can't be done all at once.

"I'm a realist," he said. "We can't do it overnight or our nation would collapse. I'm not an advocate of chaos, not an advocate of anarchy."

Parson also argued there is nothing in the Constitution or the writings of the Founding Fathers which permits the federal government to own 87 percent of Nevada. He said all that land should be deeded to the state immediately and at no cost.

He said Nevada's troops overseas in Germany, Japan, Korea and other such places should be brought home as well and stationed in places such as Nevada. He said then the billions of dollars to support those troops, including their salaries, would be spent in the U.S. - in Nevada.

Parson called for a return to "a hard currency" backed by gold, silver and other metals. He said that would save individuals from the ravages of inflation and recession because their money would have value even in tough economic times.

"Inflation is the most insidious enslavement of the populous," he said. "It strips out the value of what's there.

"You lose the middle class."

He said he opposes the estate tax because people should have the right to pass wealth on to the next generation.

Parson said to fix the federal government, "It's important to send people of good character to Washington." He said too many of those elected to Congress don't fit that description, that they're in it for their own power and security.

"Those are the things that destroy a representative government," he said.

He said until now, "the people have not stood up and demanded (a moral government)." But he believes that is changing and that one clear sign is the number of Tea Party activists.

"They're expressing their displeasure, sending letters, sending e-mails but our governance is tone deaf," he said.

Parson spent 23 years in the Marines before retiring to work for defense contractors including at the Nevada Test Site. He announced his candidacy for the U.S. Senate to unseat Harry Reid a year ago and has been traveling around the state since. He said the reception to his views has been warmly received - especially in Northern and rural Nevada.