The Barr Code

What I want is men who will support me when I am in the wrong.

These words were uttered by a British Whig politician, William Lamb, Lord Melbourne, in the early 19th Century, reportedly in reply to a fellow politician offering to support him when he was in the right. The principle the words embody, however, might as well be emblazoned on the employment contract for each TSA (Transportation Security Administration) manager, especially those at the highest levels of this federal bureaucracy.

The latest example of TSA leadership supporting its personnel no matter how outrageous the conduct, can be seen in the agency’s response to an incident in which a wheelchair-bound, 95-year old woman was pressured to remove an adult diaper before TSA agents at Northwest Florida Regional Airport would permit her to board a flight to Michigan. When details of this most recent controversy involving overly intrusive TSA pat-downs surfaced, the agency quickly circled the wagons and declared …

Continue reading TSA Continues To Harass Tots and Seniors »

“Freedom” and “liberty” are common buzzwords in politics; uttered and heard with increasing frequency as each off-year and presidential election approaches. Every candidate – no matter the office being sought — supports “freedom” and “liberty”; and none would ever admit to acts that might diminish either one.

Unfortunately, a cold, hard analysis of the degree of freedom actually enjoyed by American citizens belies this highfalutin rhetoric. Americans are far less free than government officials admit; and citizens of many states are considerably less free than their compatriots elsewhere.

This is the situation revealed starkly in the latest study, Freedom in the 50 States, just released by the Mercatus Center at George Mason University in Virginia. As explained by authors William Ruger and Jason Sorens, its purpose is to examine “state and local government intervention across a wide range of public policies, from income taxation to gun control, from …

Continue reading Freedom Rings – At Least In Some States »

What young boy hasn’t wanted to pretend to be a police officer, a cowboy, a fighter pilot, or some other adult figure leading an exciting and adventurous life? At least that’s the way it used to be. Now, in this early 21st Century, where fear is a component of virtually every public policy — underlying everything from vacation travel to eating a bowl of cereal – the new hero figure being marketed for youngsters is a snooping airport TSA agent.

A few years ago, it was plastic Playmobil figures depicting airport metal detectors that hit the toy stores. Now, in a reflection of the more personal and intrusive TSA activities currently prevalent , the latest entry in this collection of Big Brother toys, is the “Spy Gear Security Scanner,” which mimics the hand-wand used by TSA agents.

In response to seeing this latest “toy” in a store, one parent wrote, “One word: ‘Unbelievable.’ We can now teach our kids early to be TSA thugs.” Ben Popken, managing editor …

Continue reading Teaching Kids to Love TSA and Hate Tony Tiger »

During a recent visit to the Rotary Club of Atlanta, U.S. Chamber of Commerce President Tom Donohue fired a warning shot across the bow of recently elected House Republicans. Donohue explained that if they continue to oppose an increase in the debt limit, “We’ll get rid of you.”

To be clear, many Republicans in Congress do not necessarily oppose an increase in the debt ceiling. They oppose an increase without much needed reforms in spending and corresponding spending cuts to match the increase in the debt ceiling. This is hardly an unreasonable demand. In fact, Republicans seem to have a public opinion in their corner as most polls show opposition to allowing the government to keep borrowing more and more money.

The spin from the U.S. Chamber to cover for these arrogant, unnecessary and likely counterproductive comments is that Donohue was joking. But as the AJC’s Jim Galloway noted last week, the Chamber is pushing hard for an increase in the debt limit, and warned of …

Continue reading Chamber’s “Threats” Are Counterproductive »

Anyone who watched the Republican presidential debate last Monday evening understands why there clearly is room for at least one more candidate – someone who is a proven conservative who can appeal to both the establishment GOP and to Tea Party activists. That potential candidate just might hail from the very same state that gave the country its last Republican president, the conservative-in-name-only (“CINO”) George W. Bush.

Already, the GOP has several candidates; each appealing to a particular segment or segments of the Party. Ron Paul clearly appeals to the libertarian wing. Former Gov. Mitt Romney’s obvious appeal is to the Republican establishment. Congresswoman Michele Bachmann excites the Tea Party faction. Rick Santorum is a darling of evangelical Right-to-Lifers. Businessman Herman Cain has a small, but perhaps growing following among Tea Partiers. Former Gov. Tim Pawlenty enjoys support scattered among establishment types and some Tea Party …

Continue reading Lone Star Governor May Become All-Star Candidate »

It is only mid-June a year out from the election, but already it’s been a banner month for political melt-downs.  

First, we had the embarrassing spectacle of serial sexter Rep. Anthony Weiner, Democrat of Brooklyn, whose narcissism appears to be exceeded only by his ignorance of how electronic communication devices work.  Then, in the very midst of the Weiner sexting scandal, we witnessed a melt-down of quite a different sort, when former Speaker Newt Gingrich’s nascent presidential campaign imploded with the mass resignation of nearly his entire campaign staff. 

Weiner already has been forced to announce his resignation (a foregone conclusion once the entire Democratic leadership in the Congress at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue abandoned him).  Whether Gingrich can survive his organizational melt-down remains unclear.  However, both cases offer important lessons for other political figures. 

For Weiner, the lessons are (or should be) obvious.  Rule Number One is, do …

Continue reading The Melt-Downs of Spring »

The great pyramid of Giza, just outside Cairo, Egypt, has withstood thousands of years of natural and man-made efforts to unravel its mysteries; but stands still today as a monument to human skill and perseverance. Yet here in the United States — a nation ruled by bureaucracy rather than pharaohs — it took less than a single generation to topple the Great Food Pyramid, created by federal Nannies in 1992. It was ignominiously replaced recently by the Great Food Plate; hardly the stuff of legends, but certain to guarantee food wellness for Americans for at least a millennia.

The demise of the Great Food Pyramid was hastened by the advent of the anti-fatness drive by the administration of Barack Obama and his wife, Michelle, who has taken on the scourge of obesity in America with a fervor normally reserved for presidential candidates looking for votes a month out from the election. The Great Food Plate is but the latest chapter in a 100-year effort by federal bureaucrats to …

Continue reading The Great Food Pyramid Crumbles »

Albert Einstein, offering perhaps the most succinct definition ever of “insanity,” said it was performing the very same task repeatedly, yet expecting a different result each time. The modern world’s most famous physicist could easily have been describing the government’s five-decade old “war on drugs.”

In the past half century, one administration after another has spent billions trying to rid the country of those who choose to ingest non-government sanctioned substances. Far from achieving any measure of ultimate success, the result of this so-called “war” has been a net increase in illicit drug users, a massive increase in police powers, a huge increase in America’s prison population, and a depressing decrease in civil liberties.

Now, a breath of fresh air has wafted into the debate over whether it makes sense for governments to continue to engage in this costly conflict. A report issued by the Global Commission on Drug Policy, a panel composed of …

Continue reading “War on Drugs” hit by world leaders »

For years, politicians have been preying on the American people’s fears of terrorism and the hysteria over illegal immigration, to push for a national ID. Concerns with government snooping and citizen privacy have taken a back seat to these efforts.

Now, they’re at it again.

In the late 1990s a national identification provision was included in an illegal immigration “reform” bill; it was later repealed. Then, in 2005, the Republican-controlled Congress passed the REAL ID Act as part of an “emergency” supplemental military spending bill. Stuck into this spending measure was a provision mandating a uniform set of driver licensing requirements for states to implement. States were required to provide the information for a database that other states could access.

As a stand-alone bill, the REAL ID Act was unable to gain much traction in the Senate; despite passing the House by a comfortable margin. But after Sen. John Kerry (D-MA) was famously criticized in 2004 by …

Continue reading “E-Verify” Is A Stealth National ID »

The definition of “overreaching” in the next edition of the Merriam-Webster Dictionary could be a single sentence — “Over•reaching: see June 3, 2011 indictment of former presidential candidate and United States Senator John Edwards for alleged campaign finance violations.”

Every current and future candidate for federal office ought to file an amicus brief in behalf of Edwards. If the federal government succeeds in securing a conviction of Edwards in this case, the precedent will have been set for future administrations to employ federal campaign finance laws to reach and criminalize virtually any monies used by a candidate’s supporter(s) that even indirectly have the effect of protecting the “image” of the candidate.

This action by the Obama Department of Justice is similar to what the President and the Democratic majority in the last Congress did, when they passed and enacted “ObamaCare.” This massive law represents a gross expansion of the …

Continue reading Edwards Prosecution Reflects Gross Overreaching By Feds »