Bob Barr Cites Need for Budget Reform

The United States faces a fiscal tsunami, warns Bob Barr, the Libertarian Party candidate for president. He notes that the problem is bipartisan: “President George W. Bush and a Congress controlled by both Republicans and Democrats have turned a budget surplus of $236 billion into a deficit exceeding $400 billion—a more than $600 billion turn-around.”

The red ink will only grow as the baby-boom generation retires and becomes eligible for both Social Security and Medicare. “We are facing long-term unfunded liabilities of more than $100 trillion,” he explains. “We must act now to avert a fiscal crisis that threatens to overwhelm our children and grandchildren.”

Reforming these programs while keeping faith with the elderly will not be easy, Barr warns. But new legislation introduced by Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI)”offers a good starting point to put America’s fiscal house in order,” he says. Ryan’s four-part package would simplify the tax code, allow workers to open personal retirement accounts, shift control of health insurance to individuals and families, and give states more flexibility in managing Medicaid.

“For years Washington politicians have been living well while passing the bill on to future generations,” says Barr. “It is time for government, like America’s families, to live within its means.”

Barr represented the 7th District of Georgia in the U. S. House of Representatives from 1995 to 2003, where he served as a senior member of the Judiciary Committee, as Vice-Chairman of the Government Reform Committee, and as a member of the Committee on Financial Services. Prior to his congressional career, Barr was appointed by President Reagan to serve as the United States Attorney for the Northern District of Georgia, and also served as an official with the CIA for nearly eight years.

Since leaving Congress, Barr has been practicing law and actively advocating American citizens’ right to privacy and other civil liberties guaranteed in the Bill of Rights. Along with this, Bob is committed to helping elect leaders who will strive for smaller government, lower taxes and abundant individual freedom.