Barr Says Limit Government to Make Executive Accountable

The revelation that the Bush administration engaged in a sustained “political propaganda campaign” to mislead the American people over Iraq demonstrates the need for real change in Washington, observes Bob Barr, the Libertarian Party candidate for president. “We need a president who cares more about protecting the people’s liberty than in getting reelected,” he says.

Barr points to Scott McClellan’s observation that the Bush presidency “wandered and remained so far off course by excessively embracing the permanent campaign and its tactics.” The Clinton administration was little different, notes Barr, who served as one of the House impeachment managers in Bill Clinton’s case. Neither party can be trusted to protect the people’s liberties.

Thus, all of us, from the Congress to the public, “has a responsibility to hold the president accountable for his actions,” says Barr. But “it is not enough to talk about change,” he insists. Policy must change too, particularly “the relentless bipartisan effort to expand government control and power,” Barr explains. We must adopt “a policy of limited government and fiscal responsibility at home and peace and nonintervention abroad.” That is the only sure way to safeguard the liberties of Americans.

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.