The Libertarian Party of Pennsylvania - Forum

Verbatim '. . . moving to smaller government . . .'

Bob Barr, longtime Republican U.S. representative from Georgia, is an all-but-announced presidential candidate - as a Libertarian. Some are worried he may siphon off conservative votes from Sen. John McCain. Barr, who rose to prominence during the vituperative 1990s, joined the Libertarian Party in 2006. Below are excerpts from an Inquirer Q&A with Barr about why he's running.


Inquirer: What do you hope to accomplish?

Barr: I want to move the agenda of smaller government and increased individual liberty forward . . . raise the level of debate; bring the issues of smaller government back to the table, and cut government spending - that's at the root of all the issues facing the American people. I want to end the artificial control of the economy and end burdensome taxation . . . reduce the cost of the occupation of Iraq by beginning the process of removing the security blanket from the Iraqi regime . . . return respect for habeas corpus; reinstate the rule of law; stop the warrantless surveillance of American citizens, and remedy the abuses of the Patriot Act. . . .


Inquirer: What caused you to suddenly switch parties two years ago? Did you have a Paul-on-the-road-to-Damascus conversion?

Barr: What laid the groundwork for my epiphany was the result of six years of the Bush administration. They claimed to be Republicans and for a smaller government. Instead, with a complicit Republican Congress, they moved to dramatically expand the size, power and scope of the federal government. I concluded that the party I had been associated with for decades was no longer the party I had joined and no longer had an interest in smaller...


Read the rest at this link (http://www.philly.com/inquirer/currents/20080511_Verbatim________moving_to_smaller_government_______.html)