Presidential hopeful visits Valley Stream

While the Republican primaries have created most of the buzz in the 2012 presidential race, it was a lesser-known candidate who was trying to make his name in Valley Stream earlier this week.

Gary Johnson, the former governor of New Mexico and the Libertarian Party candidate for president, stopped by the Sip This coffee shop for about an hour on Monday, where he met with a small group of residents and leaders. Topics of discussions ranged from health care to foreign policy.

Johnson said he is in favor of a 43 percent cut in military spending, back down to 2003 levels. He noted that the U.S. has 5 percent of the world’s population, but is responsible for 50 percent of total military spending.

The U.S. has 2,300 nuclear weapons, a number Johnson would look to reduce to 500. He said that a large amount of money is spent simply on the maintenance of these weapons. “Do we need to blow up the planet 10 times, or will four times do it?” he said.

He said he believes there are no current traditional military threats to the U.S., but the country should stay vigilant given the potential threats of terrorism from countries such as Iran.

Johnson also discussed his fear that the nation will soon be bankrupt, and said that potential economic collapse is the biggest threat to national security.

As the governor of New Mexico from 1995 to 2003, Johnson said, he was “arguably the most fiscally conservative governor in the country.” He was elected as a Republican but said he is not a social conservative, believing in the legalization of marijuana and marriage equality. “I think that Libertarians take the best of both sides,” he said.

Valley Stream resident Debbi Gyulay questioned him about his view that marijuana should be legalized. Calling it a “gateway drug,” Gyulay said that his plan would not work unless the federal government provided more funding for rehabilitation centers, a resource, she added, that Long Island is lacking.

Johnson said he would also want to do away with all income, Social Security and corporate taxes and replace them with a “fair tax” — a 23 percent consumption tax on all goods and services.