Barr on Palin

Press Release

For Immediate Release
Sep 03, 2008
But What Will the Republicans Actually Do, Asks Bob Barr?

“Alaska Governor Sarah Palin gave a rousing speech yesterday at the Republican National Convention," says Bob Barr, the Libertarian Party's presidential nominee. "But what would a McCain-Palin administration actually do?”

Barr says Palin defended her record in Alaska, said many nice things about Sen. John McCain and tossed some well-deserved barbs at Sen. Barack Obama, "but Palin didn’t explain what the Republican ticket would do differently from the current Republican administration and past Republican Congresses,” Barr notes.

“For example, the words Social Security, Medicare, national debt, the deficit and the Constitution didn’t pass her lips," Barr observes. "Yet Social Security and Medicare alone face an unfunded liability of more than $100 trillion. The national debt runs $9.5 trillion. The deficit next year will be a half trillion dollars."

"What would a President John McCain do to reform Social Security and Medicare?" Barr asks. "What would it do to cut federal spending? Gov. Palin says a President McCain would use the veto. But that’s not nearly enough. The next president must propose closing down entire programs and agencies,” Barr notes.

Barr also notes that Palin criticized Obama for wanting to increase taxes. "Good," says Barr, "but what about Sen. McCain, who strongly opposed tax cuts in the past and says tax increases are ‘on the table’ in any negotiations with the Democrats over Social Security?”

“Why should the American people believe that his convenient conversion is anything more than a George Bush ‘Read my lips” campaign gimmick?" Barr asks. "Gov. Palin might have a believable record, but Sen. McCain certainly does not.”

Palin also promised that a McCain-Palin administration would produce more oil and natural gas in America; however, "does Sen. McCain really believe this?” asks Barr.

Until recently, Sen. McCain opposed even exploring on the Outer Continental Shelf, "and he still opposes looking for energy in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge," Barr explains. "That’s eight to ten billion barrels of oil he wants to leave in the ground. America’s resources are left untapped even as gasoline prices rise skyward."

“This is not change, but the failed status quo,” Barr says.

“The Republicans know how to give good speeches on reform,” Barr says, "but they really don’t believe their own rhetoric. The real candidates of change are Bob Barr and Wayne Root of the Libertarian Party. Only a Barr presidency would transform Washington, making it smaller, less expensive and more accountable to the American people,” notes Barr.

This is what I think:
John N. Garner, FDR's first veep, said that the office was "not worth a bucket of warm piss." FDR had a habit of not consulting with his vice-presidents. Times have changed, and the vice-president serves a larger advisory role. On several occasions the VP became acting POTUS under the terms of the 25th Amendment. But I think that Bush, Cheney, Obama, and Biden all had the right idea when it comes to running mates: Have the cute one make all the public appearances while the smart one runs the country from an undisclosed location.