Bob Barr Conference Call, July 28

A blogger conference call was held today by the Bob Barr campaign, with the candidate giving opening statements and then taking questions from various bloggers. Bob has been doing some cross country travel for fundraising, but is now back in Atlanta. The candidate continues to aggressively pursue a solid relationship with the new media, giving us levels of access you simply don’t see with the two major parties. I was also impressed with the level of candor we saw, offering up very direct answers to questions even when he doubtless knew the response would not be popular with some of the questioners. Any “emphasis text in quotes” found in this article are direct quotes taken from Congressman Barr during our call.

To summarize the opening statements, he pointed out that the housing bailout this week was a “bad piece of legislation.” He calls for the development of a broader base of research and facts on global warming before proposing solutions. In a later portion of the call, he returned to this topic and indicated that he didn’t feel that rushing into any emergency action on this issue was warranted until all the science was in. This led us directly into the Q&A portion of the call.

Global Warming: One blogger caught Barr up on an interview he did with Glenn Beck where he called global warming “a myth.” Barr says he’s not convinced yet as to how much of it is man made, but further study is merited. “We are a petroleum based society and that’s not going to change in the short term.” He agrees that in the long term we will need to move away from fossil fuel based energy.

Social Security: We need “ownership” of the Social Security system. The government has broken the connection between individual donors and their retirement, so it is now an entitlement. He’ll have more specifics shortly, but there will be “no tax increases” included in the Barr proposal. He’s disappointed in McCain for saying that “everything is on the table” and “we all know what that means… more taxes.”

Would he consider raising the minimum retirement age? That could make sense if it was part of a viable overall plan.

What is your first area of focus? “Government spending.” Meet with leaders of both parties as the first third party president in over a century and let them know that the American people want change on spending. No increases in the debt ceiling will be allowed. No increases in spending beyond that already passed. No emergency supplemental bills for items “which are not true emergencies.”

What is the foreign policy of the Libertarian Party and Bob Barr: Barr has lived overseas, including both Iraq and Iran. He cites that he has two degrees in international relations along with his experience with the CIA. He will continue to maintain a strong military, but one that is focused on defense, not offense. It’s also key to maintain our strategic relationships with our military partners.

United States role in the United Nations: “I have no use for the United Nations. I understand many in congress do, but that’s a battle we will have to have.”

Will Barr be included in the debates, and if not would he want to be in a debate with third party candidates? The candidate punts on that one. He plans to be included in the debates with Obama and McCain.

Ballot Access Update: Barr still anticipates being on the ballot in every state except Oklahoma.

How do we undo the damage done to our liberty in the 20th and 21st century? “Start at the top.” The Bill of Rights will be followed. There will be no secret loopholes for presidents which allow them to circumvent the law. “Any Attorney General I appoint and the rest of the Justice Department will not serve as a personal lawyer or law firm for the president. ”

That was it for this week. Barr continues to adhere to the majority of traditional Libertarian principles, with a firm emphasis on the point that “more government” isn’t the answer to any of our problems. We will have additional calls with the Barr campaign in the future. If you have any specific questions you would like put to him, please let me know here or via e-mail. ( jazzshaw@gmail.com )