Brennan Barrington

Where Barrington stands

Do you believe that compromise is necessary or desirable for policymaking?

Yes. The electoral system I support is almost designed to force compromises, by producing legislatures composed of many parties, so that any bill must be acceptable to a coalition.

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

I try not to think of policy in terms of distinct areas or problems and solutions. Rather, policy is a single enormous optimization problem. Every possible action by a government cascades into everything to at least some degree. However, I find myself particularly drawn to electoral processes (how best to improve on FPTP), tax policy (how best to reduce them), environmental policy (how to be good stewards of the Earth), and trade and immigration (how to reap the huge potential benefits without the catastrophic failure modes).

What do you believe are the core responsibilities for someone elected to this office?

The Democratic and Republican parties seem to believe that it is to raise money by shaking down people and businesses so they can get more people elected to do the same thing. I believe there are two core responsibilities: to inform oneself about issues, events, and legislation in detail so as to be able to cast informed votes and propose beneficial bills; and, personally, to listen and respond to the concerns of one's constituents, including assisting them with the pervasive and dysfunctional bureaucracy.

What do you perceive to be the United States' greatest challenges as a nation over the next decade?

National debt including Social Security insolvency Disruptions related to artificial intelligence Effects of invasive species proliferation