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.”

House Majority Leader Wants Bipartisan Investigation Of Fort Hood Tragedy

By Meagan Wiseley - University of New Mexico/Talk Radio News Service

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-M.D.) told reporters Tuesday that the investigation into Army Major Nidal Malik Hasan’s attack on the Fort Hood Army Base November 5th should be investigated in a bipartisan manner by Congress.

“I don’t think this is a partisan issue, all of us share extraordinary sorrow that this [tragedy] took the lives of our military,” Hoyer said.

Hoyer said that making this a partisan issue does not serve best interest of the American people or of the country.

He added, “what does serve those interests is to look at this matter and see if there are ways and means to prevent such tragedies in the future.”

The House Intelligence Committee was briefed on classified elements of the investigation Tuesday.

Hoyer also expressed his approval for the Department of Justice’s decision to try Guantanamo Bay detainees in U.S. Federal Court.

He referenced the support of Grover Norquist, David Keene and Bob Barr, all known conservatives, for the decision, saying that it proves there is bipartisan support for the issue.

Third-party candidates unify, Bob Barr snubs

Third-party presidential candidates held a press conference today at the National Press Club. In attendance were Ron Paul (no longer a presidential candidate), Cynthia McKinney (Green Party candidate), Chuck Baldwin (Constitution Party candidate), and Ralph Nader (Independent). Bob Barr was expected but did not appear; see below for more.

The candidates held the press conference to announce agreement on a list of principles, including ending the Iraq war, no more national debt increases, investigation into the national reserve system, and protection of privacy and civil liberties. They also explained their reasons for splitting from the major parties and criticized the Commission on Presidential Debates. Ron Paul gave an idea for a better way of determining debate elligibility: if you're on the ballot in enough states that you could theoretically get enough electoral votes to win, you're in.

Paul also mentioned that he had gotten a call from the McCain campaign yesterday asking him to endorse McCain. Paul said the campaign had offered him no policy concessions in return. Paul refused to endorse, saying today that the request "didn't make a whole lot of sense" and laughing.

Nader was asked why Bob Barr was not attending and if he really agreed with the principles. Nader said he had spoken with the Barr campaign this morning and they had indicated Barr would be there.

Barr, however, did not attend and instead called his own press conference an hour later. At Barr's press conference, he said that having "bold, specific leadership" was the way to get policy changes made, not by presenting "an amorphous agenda." He did not want to appear with the other candidates because he did not want to "dilute" his message. Barr also mentioned he had offered Ron Paul the VP spot on the Libertarian ticket, but he had not heard a response. I asked Barr if his actions today should be taken as an indication that he would be unwilling to compromise if elected, and he said it should "absolutely" not be taken that way; he said compromise is necessary.

The statement of principles (which does not include Bob Barr's name) can be found here.