ASHINGTON - Harry Browne says government has been a flop, and he wants to do away with most of it. So he is running for president.
The Libertarian presidential candidate announced his second bid for the White House yesterday.
The 66-year-old investment adviser from Nashville said government has failed. His solution: a 12-step program that eliminates income taxes, Social Security, the war on drugs, federal welfare and many other things Washington does.
Although he got less than 1 percent of the vote in the 1996 election, Browne contends the climate is ripe for his insurgent message.
Browne snubbed politics for 30 years, not even voting. But in 1992, watching Democrat Al Gore on television, he found himself yelling at the screen, and his wife suggested he get involved.
Two years later he decided to run for the Libertarian Party's nomination.
Browne finished fifth in 1996, behind Reform Party candidate Ross Perot and Green Party candidate Ralph Nader. This time, Browne's campaign has about $1 million, and he won't take the federal matching funds for which he now qualifies.
