barr

Despite our political differences, I’d like to give John McCain some credit where credit is due.  

“And now I suggest that maybe you go to some of these organizations that are the watchdogs of what we do, like the Citizens Against Government Waste or the National Taxpayers Union or these other organizations that watch us all the time,” McCain said during last Tuesday’s presidential debate.

I couldn’t agree more. As McCain requested, please do go check out the data provided by the National Taxpayers Union which show exactly how much money McCain’s policy proposals will increase yearly federal spending. Their data clearly shows that former Congressman Bob Barr’s policy proposals will decrease spending by $201 billion each year, while Senator McCain’s will expand the cost of government by $92 billion.

Keep in mind that the NTU data were released on September 25, 2008 and Senator McCain has been very busy spending even more of your hard-earned tax dollars since then. 

“In yesterday’s debate, Sen. John McCain, who likes to pose as the taxpayer’s friend, came up with yet another bailout idea,” Bob Barr noted on October 8th.  “He wants the government to use $300 billion—which it doesn’t have—to buy up bad mortgages in order to prop up housing prices.  Yet, it was the artificial inflation of housing prices that got us into this mess in the first place.” 

“Moreover, Congress already has approved a $300 billion housing bailout measure supported by Sen. McCain,” Barr continued. “On top of that, Congress agreed to another $200 billion or more to bail-out the housing finance giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.  Then there is the recent $700 billion bailout of Wall Street, which Sen. McCain voted for."

Of course, Barr has been adamantly opposed to each of these bailout schemes, calling them bailouts from Hell on Neil Cavuto.

Senator McCain also talks a big game about cutting earmarks, despite the fact that he just voted for another $103 billion in “bold-faced earmarks.” And earmarks are merely the tip of the spending iceberg. Of late, the national symbol for earmark spending has been the Sarah Palin-supported “Bridge to Nowhere.” The difference between McCain’s and Barr’s spending proposals would finance 736 Bridges to Nowhere – or fifteen Bridges to Nowhere per state per year.

One doesn’t have to search very far on the Internet to find McCain supporters begging Americans to vote for John McCain because at least he isn’t a socialist like Barack Obama. A quick glance at the chart above (full detail provided in .gif and .pdf format) shows that one can either be on the small-government side or the big-government side of fiscal policy. The side which John McCain picked is readily apparent.

Hopefully, voters concerned with fiscal responsibility will change their minds and support Barr after seeing these data. The only remaining claim for McCain defenders is that “John McCain may be a socialist, but at least he’s our socialist.”

Stephen Gordon serves as the eCampaign Manager for the Barr 2008 Presidential Campaign.

[I've invited Stephen Gordon, an Internet Consultant  with the Libertarian Party Presidential candidate Bob Barr, to post some thoughts on the libertarian movement and the Bob Barr campaign.  As Gordon notes, libertarians are a very influential swing constituency, and I believe they should be an important part of the Right's coalition.  But their alliance has to be earned. - Jon Henke]

For those of you who don't know me, I'm one of those old-school small-government types who would have voted for Goldwater if I had been born a generation earlier.  I cast my first presidential vote for Reagan in 1980, worked Republican campaigns through the nineties, but became disillusioned with the GOP because of their failure to reduce the size, scope and intrusiveness of government at virtually all levels.  I became disenfranchised from the Republican Party when even the rhetoric became hard to distinguish from that coming from Democrats.  As an Alabamian, I eventually disregarded the GOP as a vehicle for limited government when our Republican governor attempted to enact the largest tax increase in state history. Since then, I still work an occasional Republican campaign (ranging from city council races to presidentials), but primarily work within the libertarian movement and Libertarian Party. 

Jon Henke asked if I'd contribute some material relating to "the Right, strategy, coalition, the campaign" of the Barr campaign and the libertarian movement. Perhaps the best starting point is to better define the libertarian movement and the Barr campaign. 

Podcast Show Notes

The following were discussed on tonight's podcast. Click here to listen.

Barack Obama topples Hillary Clinton and is the Democratic nominee.

What a McCain victory means for conservatives.

Bob Barr tells racists to take a hike. (Hat Tip: Townhall.)

Disgusting You Tube comments in regards to a disgusting YouTube video.

Scotland cuts abortion wait times while women wait in maternity wards.

A British MP wants all British citizens to carry carbon ration cards.

Who's more honest? Liberals or conservatives? (Hat Tip: World Magazine.)

Postal carriers set new record for charity.

Special Guest: Hatton Humphrey of the East Coast Conservative.

Click here to listen.

Click here to listen to today's episode.