Bob Barr

Party: Libertarian

Age: 61

Job: Attorney, Law Offices of Edwin Marger (Jasper, Ga.). Runs a consulting firm, Liberty Strategies LLC, Atlanta.

Born in Iowa City, Iowa

Lives: Smyrna, Ga.

Web site: www.bobbarr2008.com

Job history past 10 years:
U.S. House 1995-2003. Attorney and consultant. Adjunct professor, Kennesaw (Ga.) State University.

Ever run for public office? When? Outcome?
Republican U.S. representative for Georgia's 7th Congressional District 1995-2003. Vice chairman of the House Government Reform Committee.

Other civic experience or community service:
U.S. Attorney for Northern District of Georgia 1986-1990. Board member, National Rifle Association since 1977.

1) What should be the U.S. course of action in Iraq?
The invasion and occupation of Iraq were two separate mistakes, which collectively have cost thousands of American lives and hundreds of billions of U.S. taxpayer dollars. Every day that the occupation in Iraq continues without a withdrawal plan is a day that more American blood and treasure (some $400 million a day) is needlessly wasted.

Unlike Republicans, who are calling for essentially permanent bases in Iraq, and Democrats, who have done nothing to counter Republican calls for an indefinite occupation, I would put in place plans for withdrawal without undue delay. While I support an exit from Iraq as quickly as possible, I would not publicly announce a timetable to our adversaries. However, as President, I would begin to immediately and significantly begin to reduce both the military and the economic security blanket we are providing the government.

The Iraqi government has come to rely too heavily on American forces to maintain control of its country, and our U.S. taxpayer dollars to artificially support its economy. A continued U.S. presence in Iraq emboldens both insurgents and terrorists, and discourages the Iraqi government from taking control of promoting peace and prosperity in Iraq.

2) How would you improve our educational system?
Parents have a duty to raise and educate their children, but without choice for alternatives to government schooling, the ability of parents to fulfill that role is severely limited. Education involves not just practical learning, but the transmission of moral values, making it even more important to return authority to parents for deciding their children's schooling without interference from government.

The free market naturally provides both choice and competition, providing goods and services of higher quality for less expense. These principles should be applied to education. Unfortunately, the government's near monopoly on education in the United States has seized control of our children's education from parents, and has trapped children in failing schools across the country.

The more we increase government control over education, the bigger the problem becomes. Turning education over to the federal government, as through such legislation as the No Child Left Behind Act has not worked. Trying to fix failing schools with more money and regulations also has failed to do anything other than waste taxpayer money without results.

School reform starts by shifting control over education from government to parents. We must abolish the Department of Education, eliminate federal grants and regulations, and begin moving power back to the states and local communities. States should consider tax credits or deductions for parents who home school or send their children to private schools. Public schools should be managed locally, increasing accountability and parental involvement. Parents should have control of and responsibility for the funds expended for their children's education. Ultimately, education will best serve the children of America if it occurs within a competitive private system rather than a government system.

3) What should the U.S. do regarding climate change and global warming?
[No statement on this topic at bobbarr.com]

4) How would you get affordable health care to more Americans?
Access to affordable, quality health care is an important objective. For this reason, some politicians have pushed for government programs to extend health care benefits to those who cannot afford or who otherwise do not maintain private medical insurance. These efforts come on top of taxpayer-subsidized benefits in the form of Medicare and Medicaid.

There are many causes of today's high healthcare cost "crisis." Medical care costs more than it should; access to insurance is more limited by government than it should be; the practice of medicine is more regulated than it should be. The American health care system desperately needs to be treated for ill health.

Our health care policy should be reformed based on the principle of consumer-oriented health care. Regulations which mandate insurance coverage and inflate premiums should be eliminated. Controls which unduly restrict competition within the health care industry, and that limit access to insurance across state lines, should be ended. Moreover, current tax policy, which is biased towards employer-provided, comprehensive health insurance, should be reformed, encouraging individual purchase of less costly catastrophic policies.

Federal health care programs, most notably Medicare and Medicaid, have become financially unsustainable. These programs need to be transformed to emphasize patient choice, focus on the truly needy, and add cost-saving incentives. Here, too, market principles should be applied to bring better quality health care at less cost.

Today's health care problems are complex, but the solution is not socialized medicine in any form. Countries that have nationalized their medical systems inevitably ration care through the political system; costs are driven down only by denying needed care.

5) What energy policy should the U.S. pursue?
Every American who drives an automobile knows that something needs to be done about the cost of energy in the United States. While Republicans are calling for more subsidies to oil companies and Democrats are seeking to micro-manage energy companies with more regulations and laws -- or to punish them by raising taxes on them -- Americans are left to watch helplessly as fuel prices go through the roof.

Government intervention, whether through more regulations or more subsidies (or both), hurts consumers in the end. The free market, driven by consumer choice and reflecting the real cost of resources, should be the foundation of America's energy policy. The federal government should eliminate restrictions that inhibit energy production, as well as all special privileges for the production of politically-favored fuels, such as ethanol.

In particular, Congress should allow the exploration and production of America's abundant domestic resources, including oil in the Outer Continental Shelf and Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, and alternative sources such as shale oil. We should develop our nation's natural assets, which would lower costs to the consumer and assure more adequate and consistent supplies.

6) How would you change national tax policy?
Americans pay far too much in taxes. In 2008, Tax Freedom Day was April 23, which means the average taxpayer worked nearly four months to pay all levels of government taxes. It is impossible for any one person to fully comprehend the U.S. Tax Code; each year billions of hours are spent by taxpayers trying to comply with the tax laws.

Tax reform is desperately needed in the United States; but before we can reform the tax code, we must sharply reduce the tax burden on Americans. Meaningful tax reform begins with reining in government spending. Second, we need a tax code that makes taxation fairer and simpler for all citizens.

There are several alternative tax reform strategies. One would be to create a flat income tax, while cutting or eliminating many other levies, such as the estate tax (or "death tax") and capital gains tax. Another option would be to replace the income tax and payroll taxes with a consumption tax, such as the Fair Tax; but prior to which it would be essential to repeal the Sixteenth Amendment, which allows government to tax the earnings of all hard-working Americans. Initiating a consumption tax while leaving the power to tax income in place inevitably would result in having an income tax on top of a consumption tax.

There may even be good alternatives for tax reform that have not yet been proposed. All of these ideas are better than the present system, and must be debated to determine which would best protect liberty and promote prosperity.

However, tax reform should not end at just reforming the tax code. America's corporate income tax is among the highest in the world, putting the U.S. at an international disadvantage. The estate tax takes advantage of a person's death. The capital gains tax discourages investment and capital formation. All of these must be reduced and eventually eliminated.