Justice and Fortitude

As many of you know, I’ve been a Bob Barr supporter since before he officially announced he was running for the nomination.  He’s bright, reasonable, honorable, and THE MEDIA LIKES HIM!  He may have made mistakes in the past, but unlike Gravel, he officially defected to our party well over a year ago…and his policies (now) are libertarian.  I’ll take reformed candidates just as I’ll take cradle-libertarians.

And I’m not alone.  Many other Hoosiers, including Mark Rutherford, Rex Bell, Kenn Gividen, Sean Shepard and Mike Kole has publicly endorsed him.  Now, our own Patriot Paul has endorsed him as well…

Some have called Barr a ‘maverick’ because he was seen as ultra conservative and became a Jeckel and Hyde for the Republicans who wanted him to carry their water.  Regretting some of his votes and sounding the alarms for encroachments to individual liberties at the expense of public policies he once favored, the question is not ‘Who is the Real Bob Barr’, but will the real Bob Bar please Stand Up, and he has done so! Was it a dramatic Damascus Road conversion, an epiphany, or even a personal evolution to a logical conclusion that accounts for his Libertarian views? Did his part in the Republican Revolution of 1994 for cleaner, smaller government drown in a sea of his colleagues’ political mischief that put bad policy ahead of individual rights? Did his own sponsoring of bills have mistakes of unintended consequences? Can the Libertarian Party come together in uniting what some see as their best bet to date to garner over 1 million votes in a general election? More to the point, can the majority of Barr’s fundamental principles of less government blend with the Party of Principle to make a difference in November? 

– Patriot Paul

Read on for Paul’s GREAT, GREAT research on Bob Barr, his background and his policies…

First, his profile

• Born: 11-05-48, Iowa City, IA
• Attended Community High School, Tehran, Iran and University of Southern Ca., George Washington U. and Georgetown University Law Center
• Lives in Smyrna, GA
• Married to wife Jeri and father of four
• Attend Wesleyan Fellowship Church
• 1970 – 1978 employed by the CIA
• Served as Congressman, Georgia House of Representatives 1995-2003, and also elected member of the US House of Representatives 1994 as part of the ‘Republican Revolution’ and re-elected 3 times from 1995-2003. Part of the 10 bills in the first 100 days in 1994.
• Appointed U.S. Attorney for Northern District of Ga. by Reagan and served until 1990.
• 1990-91 President of Southeastern Legal Foundation (primarily litigates for limited government with emphasis on individual freedoms)

• US Congressional senior member of Judiciary Committee, Vice-Chair of the Government Reform Committee, and member of Committee of Financial Services
• Anti Drug Coordinator for the Justice Dept. on the War on Drugs
• Lost seat in a close call Georgia election due to Democrat controlled redistricting
• Member on the Board of the National Rifle Association.
• Member American Civil Liberties Union
• Member American Conservative Union Foundation’s 21^st Century Center for Privacy and Freedom.
• 2005, helped found ‘Patriots to Restore Checks and Balances’ to help protect rights of citizens against the Patriot Act.
• 2006: Regional representative on the Libertarian National Committee for the Southeast Region
• One of four founders of American Freedom Agenda (advocates protection against incursion from the executive branch).
• Member of Constitution Project’s Liberty and Security Committee.
• 2008 scheduled to teach, as adjunct Professor at Kennesaw State University, a course on ‘Privacy and Public Policy in 21^st Century Business and Society’
• Part of the impeachment proceedings against President Clinton. Authored “The Meaning of Is: The Squandered Impeachment and Wasted Legacy of William Jefferson Clinton”
• Hosted Bob Barr’s Laws of the Universe on Radio America
• CNN contributor

Political Views

Patriot Act:  Signing off on the Patriot Act, Barr later recants the intrusion of citizens’ rights. “My vote in favor of the Patriot Act was probably the worst vote I cast in the Congress.  ..I have spent the last 5 years since leaving Congress, working to undo the damage it has wrought.  I believe it should be repealed and would work to that end as President.”  In 2006 at the CPAC (Conservative Political Action Conference), Barr debated an author, Viet Dinh, of the Patriot Act and created uproar by Barr’s views that Bush is breaking the law by eavesdropping on U.S. citizens without warrants. “Are we losing our lodestar, which is the Bill of Rights?  Are we in danger of putting allegiance to party ahead of allegiance to principle?”

Drug War: Voted to send aid to Columbia to stop the drug traffic.  Pushed the “Barr amendment” against legalizing marijuana, medicinal or otherwise that 69% exit poll of all D.C. voters wished for a legal initiative, and would have pulled funding if they enacted it. Voted yes to military border patrols for the drug war and terrorism in 2001 and against needle exchange and medical marijuana in DC in 1999.  

Now arises the MPP (Marijuana Policy Project) who recently hired Barr as a lobbyist against his own Barr amendment.  Barr says “I, over the years, have taken a very strong stand on drug issues but in light of the tremendous growth of government power since 9/11, it has forced me and other conservatives to go back and take a renewed look at how big and powerful we want the government to be in people’s lives.”(politico)  Regarding the drug war, I’ve been there, done that, and know first-hand our current strategy is not working.  Continuing to have the Federal Government run roughshod over the states, even if the citizens of a state decide they wish to legalize medicinal marijuana, for example, is wrong.  As President I would completely re-orient federal law enforcement priorities, that currently are skewed far too much against marijuana possession, and would consider all-and I do mean all-options.”

Civil Rights:  Voted yes on banning gay adoptions in DC. in 1999.  Voted in 1998 to stop preferential treatment by race in college admissions, and supports anti-flag desecration amendment (2001).

Prison and the Death Penalty:  Voted for more prisons and enforcement, effective death penalty in 1994 and voted in 1995 to make Death Penalty appeals harder. In 1999, voted for more prosecution and sentencing for juvenile crime and in 2000 voted for no funding for alternative sentencing in favor of more prisons.

Abortion:  1999, voted to bar transporting minors for an abortion and in 2000 voted to ban partial-birth abortions.  In 2001, voted to make it a Federal crime to harm a fetus while committing other crimes, and also voted to stop funding family Planning through US. aid abroad.

Free Trade: 1998, voted no to ‘fast track’ for trade agreements, and voted yes to withdraw from the WTO in 2000.

Gun Control: Voted in 1999 to shorten the waiting period for a gun from 3 days to 1 day.

Medical Issues: 1999, voted for tax exempt medical savings accounts and voted to ban doctor-assisted suicides.  Voted in 2000 to subsidize private insurance for Medicare Rx drug coverage, and in 2001 voted to permit HMOs to be sued with limited award.

Marriage Tax: Voted in 2001 to reduce the Marriage Tax by 399B over 10 years.

Immigration: Voted in 1998 to stop more immigrant visas for skilled workers.

Jobs: 2001, voted to stop 167b over 10 years for farm price supports.

Social Security:  1994, reduce taxes on SS earnings and in 1995 voted no to strengthen the ‘lockbox’ of social security.  In 2000, voted to reduce taxes on benefits and in 2001 voted to raise the 401k limits.

Government Reform:  1994, voted for term limits in Congress, claiming government too easy with money and too big, and in 2001 voted to stop soft money donations to national political parties.

United Nations:  Voted no in 1994 for US troops to be governed by the United Nations.

Defense:  Voted yes on the SDI initiative and for $266 Billion for the Defense Appropriations bill.

Education:  1997, supported a Constitutional amendment for school prayer. 2001, supports prayer in schools and the display of “God Bless America”.  Voted for vouchers to private and parochial schools and in DC schools, and in 2001 voted yes to require states to test children.

Tax Reform:  Cut middle class taxes.  In 2001, phase out the death tax (Estate Tax) and voted to eliminate the marriage penalty.  Voted in 2001 for the Tax cut package totaling $958 B over 10 years.  Voted for a $99 B economic stimulus package with cuts in capital gains and income tax.

Marriage:  Supported the Defense of Marriage Act. Barr is now renouncing the Act and the YouTube video that once accompanied Barr to former Republican gatherings.  “Let me tell you…I have made mistakes.  But the only way you make mistakes, the only way you get things done, is by getting out there, in the arena…As I mentioned to you all last night, and I reiterate here today-standing before you, looking you in the eye-the Defense of Marriage Act, insofar as it provided the federal government a club to club down the rights of law abiding American citizens, has been abused, misused and should be repealed.  And I will work to repeal that.  I believe each State should be free to establish its own definition of marriage, and the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) protects the right of each state to do that.  I would consider repealing that portion of DOMA that establishes a federal definition of marriage.”

Iraq War:  “As President, I would begin immediately to significantly reduce the US economic and military footprint in Iraq.  We should not be occupying Iraq or any other nation.  So long as American taxpayers are footing the bill for propping up the Iraqi economy, political system, and security apparatus, there’s no incentive at all for Iraq to assume responsibility for it own affairs.  Similarly, it is not appropriate for the US military to maintain a massive presence in Afghanistan.  I would not make a blanket statement that there should be no US troops anywhere in the world, but the stationing of major US forces in countries around the world is not appropriate or necessary.”

(Sources: Wikipedia, Atlanta Journal Constitution, “BlueCarp”columnist David Williams, Jr., Washington Post.com, Washington Sketch columnist Dana Milbank, On the Issues.org., Marijuana Policy Project, bobbarr.com)