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Derrick Michael Reid, CA-47 candidate, 2026 primary election questionnaire

May 5, 2026

Ahead of the June primary election, the Southern California News Group compiled a list of questions to pose to the candidates who wish to represent you. You can find the full questionnaire below. Questionnaires may have been edited for spelling, grammar, length and, in some instances, to remove hate speech and offensive language.

Name: Derrick Michael Reid

Current job title: Military-Geopolitical Commentator

Age: 71

Political party affiliation: Libertarian

Incumbent: No

Other political positions held: Chair, Libertarian Party of Orange County; Candidate, US President 2016; Candidate, US Senate 2018

City where you reside: Lake Forest

Campaign website or social media: Beelibertarian.com/derrick-reid-ca-47

From voter ID to war powers and from immigration to tariffs, Congress has tackled many issues over the past year. What do you, though, see as the top three issues impacting Californians, and what specifically could you do as a lawmaker to address these issues? (Please answer in 250 words or less, and keep your response to future proposals.)

For 120 years, Democrats and Republicans have been damaging American liberty and freedom, failing to maintain limited constitutional governance.

D.C. has become unfit to govern, incompetent to solve, having tax and has enslaved Americans with taxes and debt. The US now faces monetary collapse and societal implosion.

I know exactly how to transform D.C. back to limited constitutional governance.

The federal debt limit is an absolute farce. The debt-to-GDP ratio has reached 1.30. The collapse threshold is historically 1.25. The point of no return has been breached. Economic, monetary, and societal collapse and implosion are now inevitable based on 600+ imploded prior fiat regimes. The national debt and inflation are obviously unsustainable.

Some hope that DOGE is the solution. Efficiency will fail because efficiency is not the problem. Debt is the problem. Russia and China have already passed the fiat collapse threshold and are currently imploding. The US has just recently passed the fiat collapse threshold. Diplomatic, monetary hegemony, and military strength may delay the inevitable a bit longer, but societal complex collapse is on its way to the good ole USA.

Speaking of voter ID, the president has implored Congress to approve legislation that would require people to show proof of citizenship in order to vote. What role do you believe the federal government plays in telling states how to conduct their own elections, as dictated by the U.S. Constitution? (Please answer in 250 words or less.)

The DNC and RNC engage in election deceit through voter ID fraud and gerrymandering. For example, in California, Republicans cast 40% of the votes but only have 9% congressional representation.

Democracy in California is a farce. The same for Texas perpetrated by Republicans.

Both parties use state election laws to perfect election deceit and fraud in federal elections, contrary to constitutional intent. This is the main problem of federal elections. The solution seems simple: by federal law, mandating voter ID to prevent fraudulent votes and mandating FEC drawing of congressional districts so that each political party has fair congressional representation.

Voting by mail is convenient, of course, but raises prospects of voter fraud. We should avoid the appearance of impropriety. Voting by mail raises fraud concerns, especially with active extreme ideologues who actively seek voting fraud, for example, the dead casting votes, who vandalize property displaying yard signs or bumper stickers of a political opponent, and who will have immigrant aliens illegally vote in federal elections to cheat.

The justification of voter fraud is that the president must be removed at all costs if a bogus congressional impeachment effort is not successful. Of course, the extreme vitriol and rancor of politicians excite and drive ideologues into illegal actions, such as using a Fight Fund to fight fight fight to win at all costs. It’s a sorry state of affairs in American politics. I will bring back civility, as only a third-party candidate referee is capable of doing.

What, in your opinion, should the federal government focus on when it comes to immigration policy? For example, do you place a priority on border security, visas for high-skilled workers, refuge for asylum seekers, etc., and why? (Please answer in 250 words or less.)

Deglobalization is in process, that will expand the industrial footprint, requiring more workers. We will need more workers and babies.

Border security is important to screen criminals. The focus of immigration should be on assimilation of young adults who have tendencies toward adopting American culture and forming families, the bedrock strength of any society.

Asylum seekers generally perpetuate fraud as the main driver is economics and higher standards of living. Highly skilled immigrants who wish to permanently relocate and become Americans are desirable as well.

Vance went to the EU and slammed Europeans for mass immigration which, if not measured for cultural assimilation, causes clashes of culture and crime. However, he failed to recognize that the inherent problem is low fertility.

Immigration has only a part to play in supporting a necessary future workforce. Future advances in AI, quantum computing, fusion reactors and advanced robotics may provide synthetic workers to ease the problem.

It’s been over a year since Gov. Gavin Newsom asked the federal government for supplemental disaster aid to help Southern California communities rebuild after the devastating Palisades and Eaton wildfires, but neither President Donald Trump nor Congress has acted. What would you do to push for the funding, besides writing letters to the Trump administration or the leaders of Congress? (Please answer in 250 words or less.)

The whole FEMA program is inherently corrupt and breeds conflict and rancor between the federal government and state governments, and between political parties. The solution is simple. The federal government, through FEMA, purchases and stores disaster relief supplies. When a disaster strikes, the governors in the afflicted states purchase FEMA supplies from the federal government FEMA stores as they deem necessary and may borrow funds from the central bank of the federal government.

In this way, each state is responsible for itself to take preemptive and preventive measures to reduce the effects of disasters. Totalitarian national FEMA control is politically divisive, generates waste, and is immoral, effectively making people in one state pay for ineffective disaster prevention in another state.

Many have concluded that California governance has grossly mismanaged water resources and fire prevention and that California now has the audacity to seek a federal bailout to cover it up, so that others would effectively have to pay for Californian incompetence. This is inherently immoral. California should be made to be responsible for its own self-inflicted disasters through an ineffective government.

I have lived in California for nearly my whole life. Over the last 50 years, California has been severely degraded and damaged by totalitarian political controls, stemming from polarized political dominance, student ideological indoctrination and unaccountable union membership. It’s just another bullet train disaster flowing from totalitarian gross mismanagement. But that is the inherent and probable consequence of totalitarian regimes, self-centered political power rewarding ideology rather than competence.

Do you support a ban or restriction on congressional lawmakers and their families from buying or selling individual stocks? Why or why not? And what would you propose to ensure lawmakers aren’t using their positions to engage in insider trading? (Please answer in 250 words or less.)

I support limiting lawmakers from owning shares in commercial entities so that lawmakers are, in fact, working only for the federal government and not for themselves through criminal insider information and trading. Something is seriously wrong when lawmakers use positions of trust to personally profit. Fantastic sums are now routinely made by lawmakers. It stinks of corruption and insider trading when on the government payroll, using positions of trust.

Lawmakers should not be influenced by personal pecuniary gain when enacting legislation that should only be enacted for the exclusive benefit of the American people. Suspicion is that political money is transferred to lawmakers who deposit this seed money into stockbroker accounts in which futures calls and shorts are purchased. From other accounts, political money manipulates share prices, such as pump and dump. The future positions experience fantastical gains. When political money needs particular legislation, they merely ask for it, and the lawmaker votes accordingly, knowing the political money will see to it that personal wealth is dramatically increased.

Of course, there are many methods to bribe lawmakers. In this day of rampant corruption, extreme vitriol and rancor, and political vindictiveness, immorality pervades all of society. That immorality takes on many forms across all aspects of society. Humans are inherently morally weak-minded. Steps should be taken to curb potential abuses and crime, and save them from their weaknesses. Personally, I have no desire for wealth, habitually sought by lesser minds. I own a car and a dress suit, wanting nothing more.

Do you support stronger regulations on pollution and carbon emissions? If so, how would you ensure those regulations aren’t overly burdensome on small businesses or lower-income families? And if not, how do you propose lawmakers protect the environment and curtail the impacts of climate change? (Please answer in 250 words or less.)

Global warming has not been proven sufficiently to justify extreme environmental controls. The ocean levels have not measurably increased. Carbon emissions are dramatically greening the earth. Reforesting the Sahara is now plausible. Conservation is an absolute must.

However, the present tax system does not encourage conservation but rather encourages spoliation of our environment through greed and profit based on an income tax system. Income is driven by greed, where conservation is not served. Under my tax plan, income taxes are eliminated in favor of a state sales-revenue tax system. Companies never pay taxes, as the taxes levied are merely passed on to the consuming public. When a person procures a good or service, a portion of the purchase price is passed through the company to the tax collection agency.

People in normal circumstances buy with discernment that penalizes conspicuous consumption. This natural tendency has tremendous beneficial effects on conservation, as it is consumption that is penalized, not income. Also, any productivity gains of a company go right to the bottom profit line rather than being penalized by income taxes.

Under my tax plan, conspicuous consumption is penalized, thereby having a tremendous conservation effect, and where productivity gains are maximized. People will be freed from tax filings. Privacy is enhanced as the IRS will no longer invade the privacy of citizens. People have increased liberty and freedom, conservation is naturally enhanced, and productivity soars. My plan seeks to double the GDP, providing abundant increases in tax revenues, prosperity, freedom and productivity.

President Donald Trump has significantly increased spending for the U.S. Department of Defense. Would you, as a member of Congress, approve additional dollars for the military if the president were to ask for more funding? How would you ensure that any military spending does not end up putting the American people or national security in harm’s way? (Please answer in 250 words or less.)

I come from a military family and am a military scientist. I have bachelor’s degree, juris doctorate and professional training option credential with 10 years of engineering and 25 years of patent prosecution, with 10 years of monetary, 20 years of military, and 20 years of geopolitical self-education.

I am more than qualified to scrutinize weapons procurement. I designed F16 and Tomahawk weapon systems and was an aerospace patent attorney. I am very capable of analyzing weapon specifications. If demonstrating concrete needs for more weapons, I would then analyze any request from a cost-benefit perspective. The Department of War won’t get a blank check and must demonstrate clear needs.

I can analyze theaters of war and project weapons needs for strategic objectives. Currently, I’m an expert on the Russo-Ukrainian war. By October 2023, I had sufficiently analyzed Russian and Ukrainian tactics and weapon mixes and made projections that Ukraine would win. I was alone globally in that assessment; all others were opposite. By October 2025, the Russian advance had culminated as Ukraine went on the offensive and is now pushing the Russians back. Ukraine clearly has the upper hand, directly contrary to that of the Russian propagandist Gabbard. Ukraine drone technology is hyper-accelerating as the Russian economy is being decimated. I now project Ukraine will become a major arms manufacturer, and the genocidal psychopath in Moscow will be dead by the end of 2027. I can analyze weapons specifications, war strategic needs, and perform cost-benefit analysis, ensuring only needed systems are procured.

Under what specific circumstances do you believe the U.S. should engage in a war? (Please answer in 250 words or less.)

War is unfortunately needed in defense when directly attacked or under immediate threat of attack, but only with the direct consent of Congress. The problem is security leaks out of Congress due to political divisiveness and the vitriol and rancor of DNC and RNC that is off the charts, in that, politicians will use congressional consultations for political advantage, to betray the good intentions of the presidency and the American people, threatening constitutional guarantees that it is Congress, not the President, who can declare war.

Due to the political divisiveness, the War Powers Act is being grossly abused, as indicated by Trump’s attack on Iran, which was incompetently executed by the Department of War, by the mere fact that Marines were belatedly called in from Indo-PACOM, when, had the attack been properly war-gamed, the Hormuz Strait should have never been closed, now sending the world into an oil price shock. I applied to Trump for secretary of the department of defense. I developed plans to end the Ukraine war in one day, as Trump desired, to be negotiated in December 2024, but he decided to abandon the free world, which led to 250,000 unnecessary casualties. Trump then appointed an incompetent yes-man, and now I fear Marines’ lives will be unnecessarily lost. US mine sweepers were decommissioned in large measure and were pulled out of the Persian Gulf in advance of the strikes on Iran in a grand display of strategic planning incompetence, as it was clear Trump was going to attack Iran.

Do you believe a president should seek congressional approval before engaging in military action overseas? Why, or why not? (Please answer in 250 words or less.)

There were no exigent circumstances justifying Trump’s unilateral actions in Iran. Instead, Trump betrayed the free world, NATO, and EU allies, throwing Ukraine under the bus. Incompetent Vance insulted our allies. I have been to Russia and Ukraine 12 times. I know the cultures. Vance ignorantly asserted that we need peace with Russia so we can grow economies, when Ukraine must destroy the Russian economy to force peace upon them.

I can’t believe the level of incompetence in the White House. Rubio seems to be the only adult in the room. Vance is going to Hungary to save the kleptocrat and Russian stooge from election defeat, as Russian propagandist Gabbard lies before Congress, saying Russia is winning in Ukraine, both led by the Russian bootlicker in the White House, seeking a $12 trillion mineral deal with the genocidal psychopath in Moscow, for personal pecuniary gain. Musk allowed the Russian army to use Starlink for four years to help perpetrate genocide in Ukraine. It’s all inexplicable. And now Ukraine is bailing out Trump, undeservingly so, providing the Gulf states with advanced drone interceptors, know-how, and training.

Trump has surrendered the title of Leader of the Free World to Zelenskyy, who has successfully rallied the EU in defense of barbaric, genocidal imperial Russia. Had Trump acted in defense of the free world, the Russo-Ukrainian war would be over by now, and Russia would be contained from the Norwegian Sea to the Caspian Sea, a U.S. failure.

Congress, in theory, is supposed to serve as a check on the president through budgetary, legislative and oversight powers. Do you believe Congress has fulfilled that obligation during the past two administrations, with one being a Democrat and the other a Republican? Why or why not? (Please answer in 250 words or less.)

Congress has defiled the Constitution over the last 120 years, resulting in an unmanageable federal behemoth that stresses lawmakers to the point where they simply don’t have the time to properly oversee all three branches of government.

Americans are now tax and debt-enslaved by federal totalitarianism. This is a constitutional failure by Congress defiling the Constitution, enabled by a pliable federal judiciary bastardizing the Constitution, and the presidency ignoring the Constitution. The federal government is a corrupt, out-of-control totalitarian mess.

I know exactly how to fix D.C. I will reinstate limited constitutional federal governance as the Founding Fathers intended, societal civility, and tremendous prosperity. Alexis de Tocqueville (1805–1859) was a French aristocrat, diplomat, and political scientist best known for his landmark book, “Democracy in America.” Sent to the U.S. in 1831, he spent nine months traveling the country and produced a profound analysis of the young nation’s social and political structures. The most famous quote often attributed to Tocqueville regarding a nation’s ability to heal itself is: “The greatness of America lies not in being more enlightened than any other nation, but rather in her ability to repair her faults.” This reflects his observation on the self-correcting nature of American democracy, often cited in discussions of political resilience and societal improvement.

I am more than capable of leading the nation back to constitutional, limited federal governance. God bless America, the land that we all love. Rally under the Stars and Stripes! We are Americans! We can do!

Governments around the world are increasingly considering an age ban or other restrictions on social media use among young people, citing mental health and other concerns. Should Congress adopt such restrictions? If so, what specific restrictions do you propose? (Please answer in 250 words or less.)

Parents have the best interests of our children in mind. Provisions should restrict minors’ use of social media based on parental consent and control. Psychologists and sociologists should advise Congress of what steps should be enacted to protect children under FCC authority. I will need to interrogate health care professionals and technologists to determine the best approach to protect our children from obscene and attractive harmful online nuisances.

The base problem for children is the educational system, where children are indoctrinated to align with political ideologies rather than taught basic skills, compromising reading, writing, mathematics, and science, needed to succeed in modern societies. Consequently, the educational system has been degraded for the last 40 years, ranking the U.S. as a failure in education. To hide this obvious failure, ideologues promote DEI racism to overcome the deficits in education.

Consequently, inner city school children are ill-equipped to find employment already robbed by low employment opportunities, sustaining a never-ending disadvantage in their pursuit of happiness. Gender fluidity forced ideological indoctrination in K-12 education unnecessarily confuses children who are naturally curious and experimental.

Teachers should only teach, and only parents should indoctrinate, the traditional time-honored successful means of proper development.

Statistically, violent crime rates in California are on the decline, yet residents still don’t feel safe or at ease in their communities. How do you see your role in Congress in addressing the underlying issues that make Californians feel unsafe in their own neighborhoods? (Please answer in 250 words or less.)

Federal jurisdiction limits congressional authority to interfere with state rights, as police actions are primarily a state function. I will not seek federal totalitarian police state controls over state and local police functions. The U.S. should not become a totalitarian police state.

However, federal authorities have proper jurisdiction over federal crimes such as treason, terror, and RICO crimes.

The big concern is the political vitriol and rancor coming from political lawmakers that excite people into violence. The rhetoric is off the charts. Politicians excite their operatives to dox, cancel, slander, libel, harass, intimidate, vandalize, loot, falsely imprison, frame, rob, beat, shoot, and burn down anyone who doesn’t agree with them, as effective voter booth extortion. Half the DNC wants Trump dead, while the RNC is on a grand witch hunt.

President Washington warned of concentrated political power in political parties. The habitual calls to fight are literally taken by citizens who then murder, riot, and burn down inner cities. We are effectively in a state of civil war, where politicians habitually use violence-inducing language to excite their base to make opponents look bad, resulting in assassination attempts and battery upon political opponents. The DNC tries to put Republicans in jail, and the RNC tries to put Democrats in jail. The vindictiveness, vitriol, rancor, and excitement toward violence must be stopped.

I will unite Democrats, Republicans, Libertarians, Independents and Greens in national unity, standing shoulder to shoulder under the Stars and Stripes for common good.

There are term limits to serve in the California Legislature, but none to serve in Congress. Would you advocate for term limits for House members? Why or why not? If you support term limits, how many years maximum should a House member be allowed to serve? (Please answer in 250 words or less.)

I would propose 12 terms in the House, four terms in the Senate, and two terms in the Presidency, offering 56 years of federal government service, which is plenty, and after college, would make the lawmaker about 78 years of age, which is old enough. I will be a one-term-only congressman, sufficient only for drafting legislation to fix D.C., to return federal totalitarianism back to constitutional limited federal governance — though the Democrats and Republicans will reject it out of hand so as to maintain their corrupt financial interests, setting the stage for a 2028 presidential bid, to fix D.C., where it matters most.

My focuses are the apex federal problems, mostly related to taxes, debt, banking, and socialism; to reinstate liberty, freedom, civility, and the Constitution in the US. I believe it will take only six to 24 months to perfect the greatest federal transformation in U.S. history, to effectively transfer taxing and social service power from the federal government to the state governments where it constitutionally belongs.

Hopefully, with that task completed, I can resign the presidency in February 2031 and return to a preferred reclusive private life where I can ponder the universe alone in my thoughts. But that is my style: fix the problems and move on. I have no desire to become a career politician. I have only surfaced to fix the problems plaguing the country. Stand beside her and guide her, through the night with light from above. America is blessed. Praise be to God.

What’s a hidden talent you have? (Please answer in 250 words or less.)

Focusing, analyzing and devising solutions to complex problems is uniquely possessed. No other in the country is known to possess this necessary skill set.

My focus is on solving apex problems plaguing federal governance, related to taxes, debt, banking and socialism; reforming unconstitutional unlimited federal totalitarianism back to constitutional limited federal governance; necessarily requiring precise interrogatory scrutiny of patent lawyers, process modeling of systems analysts, and development design of creative engineers, applied to broad knowledge databases.

Citizens are enslaved by federal taxes and national debt, while unconstitutional federal socialism breeds corruption and resulting in Democrats’ and Republicans’ pervasive vitriol and rancor. Unconstitutional federal totalitarianism results in 54 million man-years each year of tax slavery, exponentiating $40 trillion in national debt, and behemoth corrupt federal socialism.

I will seek to abolish federal income taxes in favor of state sales-revenue taxes, federal socialism in favor of state-level social services, the Federal Reserve System (FED) replaced by the Bank of U.S. (BUS), and national debts through currency translations from federal reserve notes to U.S. dollars, the non-interest-bearing Lincoln Greenback.

Americans would now own the US central bank, no longer be $40 trillion in debt, paying $1.5 trillion in annual bank interest. Unconstitutional unlimited federal totalitarianism is replaced by efficient constitutional limited federal governance. The debt-to-GDP ratio has breached the monetary collapse threshold, which will necessarily lead to systemic societal collapse, unless we act now, and solve these apex federal problems.

Orange County Register

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Derrick Michael Reid, CA-47 candidate, 2026 primary election questionnaire

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