Barr ’08

Bob Barr has some of his former conservative allies worried. The former Republican congressman from Georgia and erstwhile nemesis of former President Bill Clinton is thinking about running for president.

“If I decide to become a candidate, it will be to offer the American people a true choice,” he said. He added he would run on an agenda of small government and respecting the Bill of Rights and “individual liberty.”

Instead of siphoning votes from Sen. McCain (R-Ariz.), Barr said that his support would come from “disaffected Republican voters, Ron Paul supporters and independent voters and Democratic voters who believe in a strong message of civil liberties.” To him, both the Republican McCain and Democratic Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton (N.Y.) and Barack Obama (Ill.) fail to offer “a real choice” in November, especially on his No. 1 issue, reducing the size of government.

McCain heralded “the fact that he doesn’t like earmarks, but … if you do away with earmarks, you still spend the money, [but] in a more open way,” Barr said. He added: “Sens. Clinton and Obama have very clear and consistent records of supporting increased government spending.”

Despite his talk about earmarks, keep in mind that the National Taxpayers Union has estimated that McCain will increase spending by $6,900,000,000.00 per year. That’s just based on what McCain has said so far while trying to win a Republican nomination. Surely he’ll swing even further left come debate time between McCain and the eventual Democratic nominee. If handed the keys to the White House, one can expect McCain to continue the orgy of spending that is now bankrupting our nation.

Neither Clinton, Obama nor McCain are offering a lower price tag for government. Our only hope is that Bob Barr decides to jump into the race.

Source: From The Hill