Motivated by a dissatisfaction with the inner workings of Washington, Army Instructor Brandon Martin has thrown his hat into the ring for Martha McSally’s open seat in Congress.
He believes it is his mission to educate the people of Congressional District 2 about what roles the federal government is supposed to have.
A self-titled “constitutional conservative,” Martin’s main campaign policies include beefing up national and border security, shrinking other federal spending and transferring power from D.C. to the states.
On a recent segment of “Wake Up Tucson,” Martin warned radio listeners about the future of America and where conservatives fit into it: “We are losing our Republic, we are losing our freedom, we are losing everything that our founders fought for.”
When host Chris DeSimone asked him to give examples of what is being lost, Martin mentioned Second Amendment rights, free speech and national sovereignty. The hashtag #MartinforFreedom has become a highlight of his campaign.
The southern Indiana native first got a taste for the Southwest when he was stationed at Fort Huachuca in 2004. After serving in Afghanistan for 15 months, he came back to the U.S. and moved to Sierra Vista, where he has lived permanently since 2006.
Since he first arrived, Martin has been heavily involved in the operations of Fort Huachuca. He has worked as an instructor, a civilian training coordinator and has managed some of the post’s budgets.
“I understand how the Army post and the Air Force base work, I understand what their missions are,” Martin said in a phone interview. “So I want to bring meaningful missions to Davis Monthan and to Fort Huachuca. I want to make sure that there’s a national security plan that supports the post and the base so that way they stay operating for those national security interests.”
Martin sees these two military operations as a top priority. He believes they are the key to stopping crime at the border, and they are necessary to keeping Arizona communities safe.
He does not put federal programs like Medicare and Social Security in the same light. If elected, Martin hopes to make strides towards ending these programs permanently and turning the responsibility over to state governments or private entities.
“It really goes back to ‘What is the ability of the federal government?’” he said. “Nowhere in the Constitution have I read that it is to provide health insurance for people. It just drives up costs unnecessarily.”
Martin said he wants to get the government out of the health insurance business and start looking at alternative options. If healthcare was privatized, he believes that more options would be available to the consumer, which would effectively drive down prices.
On Wake Up Tucson, Martin laid out his plan for dissolving Social Security. He wants to guarantee those aged 62 and older the money they were promised through the program, then give those between the ages of 18 and 62 the option to “opt-out.” Anyone who opts out would be paid back any money they put into Social Security in full. For everyone 18 years old or younger, Social Security would not be offered to them at all going forward.
When asked about his stance is on federal education funding, Martin said he wants to work towards dissolving the U.S. Department of Education as well.
“I believe education is a local matter, and I don’t believe it’s a federal issue,” he said. “I think that what we could start by doing is to put a sunset clause on the Department of Education, let that expire over a period of five to 10 years and get rid of the Department of Education.”
Martin believes the Department of Ed is ineffective. He said the funding from that department should be split up among the states, in addition to opening up federal lands, which would provide extra funds gained to put towards education.
Referencing the recent $1.3 trillion spending bill passed under a Republican Congress, Martin said, “Both sides have gone past their authority and their scopes and we have to cut down our spending, and that’s across the board.”
Martin mentioned that he supported Sen. Rand Paul’s plan for a 1 percent cut to the federal budget over the next five years, and was frustrated by the fact that only 21 Republicans voted “yes” on it.
This article appears in Jun 21-27, 2018.
Just another dime a dozen 21st Century Repug. Supports what the wealthy extreme right wants and opposes anything to help those outside that definition. Truly a soldier of the plutocracy!
“We are losing our Republic, we are losing our freedom, we are losing everything that our founders fought for.” — Brandon Martin
And who is leading the charge on undermining and destroying the fabric of America in the guise of making America great again?
We were on the path of slowly becoming a plutocracy with the election of Ronald Regan, but the passing of Citizens United put the effort into warp drive, as evidenced by the state of American politics today.
The only way we are going to regain some control of our government is to institute severe term limits at every level so that being a politician is no longer a career choice, but a short term of public service that moves our communities, states and nation forward for all and not just those who have paid to play.
Term limits aren’t the answer. Arizona has proven that. There aren’t any term limits on lobbyists so they hang out and make a career of wrangling wet-behind-the-ears politicians.
Someone has been chug-a-lugging the grape Kool-Aid. The scary thing is that he could end up winning a seat in Congress.
Prior to 2016, I would have written that any candidate who wanted to end Social Security and Medicare had a snowball’s chance in hell of winning. However, now that we have seen how utterly ignorant and easily duped American voters can be (‘If a candidate puts its hand over its heart for the National Anthem, then that candidate is a patriot, so by golly, I’ll vote for him’, or believing that the GOP Tax Reform Bill would actually provide a substantial benefit to the middle class, etc..), Brandon Martin might actually get a number of votes. Remember the old adage, “A fool is born every minute,” or perhaps more apropos: “A fool and his money are soon parted.”
Nowhere in the Constitution have I read that it is to provide health insurance for people. It just drives up costs unnecessarily. -Brandon Martin
Brandon Martin thinks the Constitution is a corpse rotting in a mausoleum, and that our democracy is bound by worshiping at this altar. Fortunately for the rest of us, the constitution is a living document.
In another era I wonder what Mr. Martin would be saying…
If the year were 1864: Nowhere in the Constitution have I read that we can’t have slaves.
If the year were 1918: “Nowhere in the Constitution have I read that it is to provide voting rights for women.
If the year were 1970: ” Nowhere in the Constitution have I read that 18-yearolds have a right to vote.
How can we elect a man who doesn’t understand that the constitution is a living document?
I guess “an idiot” would be the short answer to the question, “Who is Brandon Martin?” Thanks for your service, sir, now get lost. Oh, and be sure to refuse any medical care from the VA.
“Living document” allows the haters to attempt to change it to fit their lifestyle. Not going to get it. They have changed all the laws they can…made it legal to abort, and smoke dope. I guess the conscience needs medication huh?
That means the Bible would be next, or have they already rewritten it? It is laughable how everyone else’s culture is critically important, but ours? Dumping it is ok with them.
“Living document” allows the haters to attempt to change it to fit their lifestyle. Not going to get it. They have changed all the laws they can…made it legal to abort, and smoke dope. I guess the conscience needs medication huh?
That means the Bible would be next, or have they already rewritten it? It is laughable how everyone else’s culture is critically important, but ours? Dumping it is ok with them.
Dude is #LyingAllys pick.
What more do you need to know?
After reading all these comments and listening to all Martin’s Republican opponents speak, (at least to the ones that show up when Martin didn’t even show up one time when he was the only scheduled speaker), I found Danny, (D.J) Morales to be the most experienced, responsible, trustworthy, sincere and prepared candidate.
This guy is seriously scary. Do away with social security, medicare, public education, armed military at the border? His “constitutional conservatism” looks more like constitutional abandonment. No thanks Brandon. You make McSally look good and I dont care at all for her.
Mark Kelly, please make these people disappear when you win the Senate seat.