Political 'Monopoly' Breaking Government, Says Former Congressman

By Benny Martinez - University of New Mexico/Talk Radio News Service

Former Georgia Congressman Bob Barr blasted the inefficiency of the “monopolistic” political system that surrounds Washington during a forum Tuesday.

Barr said that the legislative branch of the U.S. government is broken due in part to a political “monopoly,” meaning that our country is currently under the leadership of a Democratic president and that Democrats hold the majority in Congress. In addition, Barr said that the same would be true if the GOP held power over both branches.

“[When] you have one party of the two monopoly parties that decides what the agenda is entirely and under what circumstances, then there is very little room, if any, for independent thought in that process,” Barr said.

According to Barr, members of the political elite have shied away from being bipartisan and have manipulated the system that they created in order to move their political and personal agenda forward.

Barr, a Republican who eventually ran for president under the Libertarian Party, said the U.S. should learn from example and consider past presidents, such as former President Bill Clinton. Barr credited Clinton for being a Democratic president working with a Republican Congress that resulted in the first balanced budget in decades.

“He understood the political process and understood that rigid adherence to the party or to a particular ideology was not a way to get things done in Washington,” Barr said. “He was a master for standing up for his party and his ideology up to a point.”