I just voted for Bob Barr....

...and, damn, it felt good to stand up for freedom. First time I ever voted for the libertarian for president, and if the major parties continue their ways, it won't be the last.

One last pre-election message from Bob Barr

Now get out and make your vote count for liberty!

There are only so many ways to say it....but here's one more

I haven't posted a lot lately because there are only so many different ways to tell you that there's only one candidate in this race standing up for freedom, and that's Bob Barr.

But let me take one more shot at fellow pro-liberty conservatives with this pitch: John McCain isn't going to win. The way the polls stand right now, he would need to run the table on about eight swing states and he's behind in every one. It isn't going to happen. If you want your vote to actually say something--to send a message to the national Republican party that they are far off the mark and need to get back to the small-government/pro-freedom message of Barry Goldwater, a vote for Bob Barr will say much more than a vote for John McCain. Otherwise, if you vote for John McCain, not only is your candidate going to lose, but the Republican Party is far more likely to think you'll accept any nonsense they'll send your way, even when it's a candidate as distinctly anti-freedom as John McCain. Cast a vote (and send a message) for liberty next Tuesday. Vote Bob Barr!!

They Can't Even Answer a Simple Question

Did you notice at the debate the other night that neither Obama nor McCain, even when pressed over and over, would answer a simple question: how would a Wall Street bailout of $700 billion affect your spending/budget plans?

Their bobbing and weaving was a disgrace. Had Bob Barr been in that debate, we know first of all that he would have answered the question, and, second, that he not only wouldn't be supporting a bailout but would be slashing federal spending to actually take a chunk out of the deficit, not increase it, like the other candidates will.

There is only one reasonable choice for fiscal conservatives: Bob Barr.

Let's Keep This Simple: NO!!!!

Fiscal conservatives who believe in the free market shouldn't be supporting a bailout of Wall Street. Bob Barr makes that clear in this press release from his campaign:

Congress Should Vote ‘No’ on Bailout, Says Bob Barr

September 29, 2008 12:59 pm EST

Atlanta, GA – “The leaders of both the Republican and Democratic Parties are rushing ahead with their $700 billion bill,” says Bob Barr, the Libertarian Party candidate for president. “Without a single hearing and without considering other solutions, Congress is preparing to put the typical American family on the hook for more than $8,000. Legislators in both parties need to stand up for the American people and say no,” says Barr.

“If bailouts are the answer, why hasn’t the $300 billion housing bailout worked? What of the $100 or more billion bailout of Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae?” Barr asks. “This bailout package doesn’t resolve the underlying problems. It merely transfers the liabilities to the taxpayers,” he observes. “Instead, we need to make Wall Street take the hit for its irresponsible investment decisions.”

“The process will be painful. Some companies will go bankrupt. Some firms will go into receivership. Healthy companies will take over failing institutions,” Barr adds.

“Instead of bailing-out banks and investors, Congress should address the causes of today’s economic mess. The first is to end government pressure for irresponsible lending. That means privatizing Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and repealing the Community Reinvestment Act. It also means depoliticizing the nation’s money supply. The Federal Reserve cannot continue artificially inflating the money supply, which creates the illusion of a boom that is inevitably followed by a bust,” observes Barr.

“The government needs to investigate and prosecute fraud. It also needs to adjust accounting rules, such as ‘mark-to-market,’ which threaten the balance sheets of sound companies. We need to streamline complicated regulations that have not created transparency for customers and investors. And we need to look at any rules that make it harder for companies to make the necessary adjustments themselves,” says Barr.

“The bailout bill is not only bad because it forces innocent taxpayers to pay off irresponsible bankers and investors, but because the bill creates an excuse for more extensive federal economic meddling—setting corporate salaries, receiving stock in companies, and 'adjusting' mortgage terms. Once the government gets into these areas of the economy, it isn’t likely to get out,” Barr warns.

Finally, Barr explains, “we must force the federal government to get its fiscal house in order. The national debt already is $9.5 trillion. Social Security and Medicare currently threaten us with $100 trillion in unfunded liabilities,” Barr says. “Just where will this new $700 billion come from?”

“With the economic crisis upon us, painful adjustments are inevitable. Instead of bailing-out those who made the mess and slowing down the adjustment process, Congress needs to get out of the way. Its job is to fix government policies that have made things worse. The job of the American people is to replace those politicians who created the failed policies—and who today think the answer is to conscript the public’s money to pay off failed businessmen. Only by voting for Bob Barr and the Libertarian Party will the American people be voting for the change that is necessary."

What About Spending????

If you take a serious look at either McCain's or Obama's proposed budgets, neither one is taking spending or the deficit seriously. Bob Barr says that we need a "surge" in fiscal responsibility. Again, he, not John McCain, is taking the classic Republican approach to the issue. Read about it here.

Stop the Bailouts!

This government bailout of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac should convince you that neither Democrats nor Republicans favor small government. The Barr campaign had this to say about it:

" I am sure you must be as angered as I am by the government take over of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. This taxpayer rip-off is guaranteed to cost you and me billions. . . and who is to benefit?

First and foremost, THE BANK OF CHINA. That's right, the government bank in the People's Republic of China. Among others, numerous countries in the middle east and institutions around the world are also benefiting. Billions and billions are being sent overseas at our expense.

What do Senators McCain and Obama say about this government nationalization of our home lending system? They are both reported to be supportive.

I can tell you unequivocally, that Presidential candidate Bob Barr opposes this bail out!

Why? Because our tax dollars are being used (once again - remember Bear Stearns?) to fatten the bank accounts of speculators who bought bad loans. This is a case of the government rewarding those who took high-risk investment positions and were about to lose. . .

And where is Congress through all of this? Today they are back from a six week vacation and after just three more weeks, they quit work for the rest of the year! Between lengthy paid vacations, you can be sure they will be privately encouraging federal regulators and bureaucrats to bail out their friends. You see, Congress is paid handsomely - in the form of campaign contributions and other gifts - to make sure that the wealthy are protected from their own mistakes.

Do you need still more evidence that the only ones to benefit from this bail-out are foreign investors and Wall Street, check out all the major stock exchanges TODAY and you'll see massive gains that you are paying for.

John McCain and Barack Obama support this. No surprise there. Bob Barr is alone in blowing the whistle on this multi-billion bail out."

"But What Would the Republicans Actually Do?"

After Sarah Palin's speech last night, Bob Barr asks, and answers, that question here.

Sarah Palin Tried to Ban Books??

If this is true, and it is reported in Time magazine, not on Daily Kos, so it has the ring of truth to it, one of Sarah Palin's first acts as mayor was to try to ban certain books from the local library. Book-banning is about as antithetical to freedom and liberty and about as big-government as you can get.

Talk is cheap, Governor Palin. You speak of small government, but try to ban books? No person who loves freedom and liberty should vote for McCain/Palin.

Sarah Palin, a.k.a. Don't Get Sold a Bill of Goods

There are certainly things for conservatives to like about Sarah Palin, John McCain's choice for VP. She is, generally speaking, a fiscal conservative and has shown a fair measure of independence from the more doctrinaire party types in her state. However, let's keep in mind a couple of critical points before John McCain suddenly becomes your candidate instead of Bob Barr:

(1) Sarah Palin is horrendously underexperienced. Right now the Democrats have nominated a candidate for president who has not yet finished his first term in the US Senate and who was, not very long ago, just another state legislator in Illinois. The Republican Party, apparently keen to throw away the lack-of-experience argument, has nominated someone whose views may mesh with your own more than, say, Barack Obama's, but good Lord, she is actually less experienced than Obama. Do we know a thing about this person's foreign-policy views or her qualifications to address foreign-policy issues? This is not a game of "pick the attractive candidate who occasionally says the right things." Selecting a vice-president is serious business. With John McCain a cancer survivor and already 72 years old, Sarah Palin could very well be carrying around the nuclear briefcase in the near future. That ought to worry you...a lot.

(2) The top of the ticket is still John McCain, and that should to be a deal-breaker for conservatives and all those for whom liberty is the main issue. As I've written over and over, McCain is no friend of freedom. He is a big-government type eager to spread his "national greatness" theory (perversely and incorrectly labeled "conservatism") around the world. He has brought us the debacle of campaign-finance reform, a foreign policy that is positively expansionist in its reach, and a disdain for individualism and liberty that is staggering.

There has been some talk in the media that the Palin pick is meant to bring home conservatives to the GOP, and, presumably, away from Bob Barr's candidacy. Don't believe the hype. If picking a first-term governor who occasionally walks the walk (e.g., her record on gun rights is excellent) on the issues, but has not a clue about foreign policy--and quite possibly not much more about national domestic policy--would be all John McCain needed to do to get your vote, I would immediately wonder how likely you were to cast a vote for freedom and liberty in the first place. True conservatives were more principled and intelligent than to accept John McCain as their president before he picked Sarah Palin for VP, and they still are in the wake of this puzzling nomination. Vote Barr '08 and stop the nonsense.

Bob Barr Wins Texas!!

This is pretty funny. Both the GOP and the Democratic Party have missed the filing deadline in Texas to get their candidate on the ballot, so Bob Barr is the only candidate on the November presidential ballot in Texas. Taken down by their own unfair ballot-access rules....that's priceless. Read about it here.

John McCain's Dangerous "Blustering"

Bob Barr gave John McCain hell over McCain's absurd saber-rattling about the Georgia/Russia conflict.. Read about it here.

Bob Barr Campaigning in NH Today!

Headline says it all. More here on Bob's stop in the state where he's currently already polling at 10%.

"Judges Are No Reason To Vote For McCain"

That's what Bob Barr says, and he's right. Check out his entire op-ed piece from the Wall Street Journal here.

Bob Barr--The Privacy Candidate

Think John McCain gives a damn about your privacy, electronic or otherwise? Here's an article about how Bob Barr takes the true conservative position on that issue.

Encouraging Poll Numbers

Check out this article over at Liberty Maven that shows Bob Barr polling well for so early in the general-election race. He's already at 10% in New Hampshire and running at high single digits in many other states. Just a little better showing and Bob will have a strong case for inclusion in the presidential debates, and, if he can do that, he'll have by far the best vehicle to get his pro-liberty message out there--a message that John McCain cannot hope to match, especially when the target audience is pro-liberty Republicans.

UPDATE: Here's a list of states where Barr is polling already at 5% or better. Thanks to Lew Rockwell.

John McCain is a "Big-Government Republican"

I can't embed this one for some reason, so go here to watch Bob Barr in a short excerpt from an interview in which he calls John McCain a "big-government Republican." And he's right. Small-government consevatism and John McCain have nothing in common. It's time to send a message and take the Republican Party back by rejecting John McCain and voting for Bob Barr.

Bob Barr on This Week With George Stephanopoulos

A good strong appearance from Bob, and, word is that he's moving up in the polls to a point where he's within striking distance of getting in on some fall debates:

Bob Barr on Fox News Sunday

Something You May Have Missed Last Week About John McCain

While conservatives were celebrating the Heller decision that properly held the DC gun ban to violate the Second Amendment, you might have missed another 5-4 decision: that the "millionaires' amendment" to McCain-Feingold is unconstitutional. Yes, John McCain thought it would be a good idea to restrict the free speech rights of citizens based upon how much money they have. Has there ever been a more socialist-oriented, even-out-the-playing-field violation of free speech? Shouldn't that have been obvious to John McCain? And shouldn't you doubt his conservative credentials as a result?

"Barr sure sounds better than McCain"

That's the title of this article by a conservative columnist in the New Jersey Star Ledger. Conservatives are beginning to rally behind Bob Barr.

Transcript of Bob Barr Interview on ABC

Get it here. Bob Barr's most memorable line of the interview might just be, when asked if he questions John McCain's "conservative credentials": "I'm not sure that anybody can legitimately say that McCain is conservative."

Bob Barr: A Real Choice

I'm back from vacation, and this is one hell of a great way to get this thing going again. It's called "Bob Barr: a Real Choice":

A Short Break....

Yeah, I know...I just get this blog rolling and I go on vacation? But vacations are important too. See you in two weeks.

Bob Barr Tells John McCain That America Is Not an Occupying Power

More on the true conservative position on foreign policy here.

John McCain is "Ambiguous" About Whether He Would Obey the Law as President

The current administration has been criticized for its notions of an "imperial" presidency--a presidency that is above the law and the constitution. Conservatives have rightly criticized the president for that view. Bob Barr has led that charge, promising that his notion of presidential power is far less expansive than George W. Bush's. Simply put, Bob Barr believes in following the constitution and rejects the idea of an imperial president. As this article from Reason shows us, John McCain is significantly more ambiguous about his own views of presidential authority. Republicans should insist on a much greater commitment to the constitution than McCain offers in this regard.

John McCain the Waffler

Here's an interesting piece from an unlikely source. The Philadelphia Inquirer is a liberal paper, but Dick Polman's column about McCain "at the Waffle House" is a spot-on attack that should appeal, in large part, to conservatives wondering about McCain's conservative credentials. McCain, unlike a true conservative, waffles and changes his tune when the political winds blow a different way.

McCain v. Barr--the Debate

No, the major parties haven't yet agreed to let Bob Barr in on the debates, but here's a link to a nearly hour-long discussion between Matt Welch of Reason magazine and Ramesh Ponnuru of National Review Online. Welch has had the goods on McCain for a long while. His book McCain: the Myth of a Maverick does a nice job of accurately portraying McCain as the big-government/anti-liberty/neo(faux)-con candidate that he is. Welch wants us to vote for Bob Barr and I think he makes, by far, the more convincing argument. Ponnuru plans to vote for McCain. Watch the video and see who has the better pitch. For my money, it's Welch all the way.

If you want the abridged version that does about 11 minutes on Bob Barr and disaffected conservatives, go here.

Tom DeLay's wife is voting for Bob Barr

Now that's the kind of independent thinking from true conservatives that will send a message to the national GOP. More here.

Bob Barr on Glenn Beck

See the whole, hour-long, wide-ranging interview here.

"Reduce and Simplify Taxes"

That's the message from Bob Barr, not John McCain. In a recent press release, Barr sets forth his goal, leaving open the idea of the Fair Tax, a flat income tax, or some other means of eliminating the absurdity of the current tax structure in the US. That's a fundamentally conservative concept that John McCain can't be trusted to adopt, let alone follow through on. A vote for Bob Barr sends a message to the GOP that certain ideas cannot be compromised and one of those ideas is a commitment to simplifying and reducing the federal tax burden on the average American. McCain goes on about earmarks--and, make no mistake, earmarks are an outrage--but earmarks are a tiny part of the fiscal problem in a government that spends too much money on bloated bureaucracies like the Department of Education and takes too much money from the average working taxpayer.

The candidate who will truly reduce government, lower taxes and increase freedom is Bob Barr, and a vote for him sends the message to the Republican Party that John McCain is completely unacceptable on all three counts.

John McCain's Deal-Breaking Moment With Republicans

We all have our top-five list of reasons why John McCain hates liberty and shouldn't be the GOP nominee, but there is not a clearer more obvious deal-breaker for me with McCain than campaign finance reform.

Let's be as simple as possible: John McCain sponsored a bill that made it illegal for advocacy groups to air ads immediately before an election. He thought it was proper and constitutional to silence free speech based on his concept of the "public good."

Read that again, and think about the implications. John McCain thinks that silencing free speech is a good idea. He wants the government to shut you up for your own good.

And he wants Republicans to vote for him? In order to be a president who defends the constitution, one needs to be a person who has not tried in the past to undermine it completely.

Conservative Republicans should say no, no and no again to John McCain. His assault on the constitution must be stopped.

Vote Bob Barr.

Bob Barr on The Colbert Report

I have to admit that the "Babar" line made me laugh out loud.

No Permanent U.S. Bases in Iraq

That's what Bob Barr says, because he's not a nation-building faux-conservative like John McCain.
More here.

Debating For Liberty: a Challenge

From the Barr '08 campaign:

Bob Barr Welcomes Election Contest with Barack Obama and John McCain, Urges Weekly Debates

Atlanta, GA -- Tonight the Democratic Party effectively finished its nomination process, choosing Sen. Barack Obama as its presidential candidate. Sen. Hillary Clinton fought long and well, helping spur a record voter turnout on the Democratic side. In most any other year she would have been her party’s standard-bearer, but she fell short against Sen. Obama, perhaps the Democrats’ most eloquent proponent of liberalism.

Sen. John McCain defeated his leading opponents even earlier to become the presumptive Republican nominee. Sen. McCain has a distinguished career, beginning with his military service during the Vietnam War. He well represents a Republican Party that has become an advocate of slightly smaller big government at home and aggressive war-making abroad.

I, and the Libertarian Party, offer a very different alternative to the American people: limited, constitutional government dedicated to protecting individual liberty. I look forward to a vigorous contest this fall and meeting my fellow candidates to debate the many important issues facing our nation. But there is no need to limit the debates to the usual handful of carefully choreographed contests.

In congratulatory letters I am sending, I challenge Senators Obama and McCain to meet me in weekly debate in cities across America with just the candidates and a moderator to keep order. Let us argue the issues, after which the American people can make their decision on Election Day. Surely the citizens of the greatest nation on earth deserve no less.

A Vote for Bob Barr Is Not a "Wasted" Vote

You'll hear talking heads like Sean Hannity try to tell you that as a Republican you'd be wasting your vote to vote for Bob Barr. Courtesy of the Libertarian Republican Blog, here's a rebuttal that hits the nail on the head. John McCain is a waste of your vote, not Bob Barr:

"BOB BARR IS NOT A WASTED VOTE
BY SAM FINLEY

You will hear these words a lot for the next few months. Many Republicans will tell you that voting for any candidate other than John McCain is a wasted vote. But in the case of Libertarian presidential candidate Bob Barr, I’m here to tell you these folks have it dead wrong.

If anything, the real wasted vote in this election is John McCain. A vote for McCain is an approval of the continued “talk small government, but enact big government” policies that the GOP has pursued for years. It is a validation of that they can get away with slighting conservatives and libertarians’ wishes for lower taxes, lower spending, and more individual freedom, because they think we have nowhere else to go.

However, by voting for the former Republican Congressman from Georgia, we can send a clear message to the GOP establishment that their abandonment of limited government principles will no longer be tolerated.

It is a chance to tell them that if they want our vote in future elections, then they need to start getting behind ideas that Barry Goldwater and Ronald Reagan would applaud…rather than backing issues that must have them spinning in their graves.

Having said that, there is the argument that a vote for Barr over McCain is a vote for Barack Obama. But considering that McCain supports many of the same socialist policies as the Democrat from Illinois, then those of us who love freedom need to ask ourselves this question: If McCain wins this election, what do we win? Not much if you ask me.

The fact is that Bob Barr will be the only legitimate pro-liberty candidate on the ballot this November…and he deserves the support of any Republican who is tired of watching the GOP continue its wayward decline to irrelevance. A vote for anyone else is merely wasted.

*Note - Sam Finley is a sportscaster and writer in Oregon. He is a longtime RLC member. He is one of the original Co-Founders of Libertarians for Bush in 2004."

More Bob Barr on TV

He'll also be on the 7pm EDT edition of Glenn Beck's show Thursday June 5.

Bob Barr on TV

Wednesday June 4 at 11:30 pm EDT, and rerun on Thursday at 8:30 pm EDT, Bob Barr will be on Comedy Central's acclaimed The Colbert Report. Somewhere amidst Stephen Colbert's Bill O'Reilly parody, I'm thinking there will actually be some serious discussion of the way the Bush administration (and John McCain) have little regard for your constitutional rights, and why Bob Barr should get your vote.

Bob Barr Reacts to Mike Huckabee's Speech That Insulted Small-Government Republicans

Mike Huckabee and John McCain are cut from the same cloth--the neo (read: faux) conservative kind that supports big-government solutions to issues that face the country. Huckabee's speech the other day blasting the libertarian wing of the Republican Party was a disgrace. He is a poor heir to the Reagan/Goldwater legacy of small government, and John McCain is not much different in that regard.

Bob Barr reacted quickly to Huckabee's remarks: "This is why I am running for President: to provide an alternative to the big spending, big government advocates representing the Republican and Democratic parties. My goal is to roll back the size of government and allow Americans as individuals, families, associations, and communities to step forward as they have throughout U.S. history.”

Read the whole story, with Bob Barr's complete statement, here.

John McCain Doesn't Care About Individual Liberty

Conservative columnist P.J. O'Rourke once said that conservatives are "participants in an enormous non-march on Washington -- millions and millions of Americans not descending upon the nation's capital in order to demand nothing from the United States government. To demand nothing, that is, except the one thing which no government in history has been able to do -- leave us alone."

But the page of John McCain's website that purports to be about the "issues" of the campaign will lead you to the conclusion that John McCain has no plans to leave you alone. In fact, despite the most intrusive big-government program of them all--the Patriot Act--John McCain has nothing to say about the matter. That's because he wholeheartedly supports Patriot Act intrusions into your life. His is not a conservative posititon at all. He is a big-government bureaucrat whom real Republicans should reject.

On the other hand, Bob Barr led the fight against an open-ended Patriot Act--insisting that the measure include "sunset" expiration dates--and now has taken a firm. principled. conservative position against that law. From the Barr '08 website:

" Unfortunately, in recent years government at all levels has shown growing disrespect for the Constitution, particularly the Fourth Amendment that protects citizens from unlawful searches and seizures. The sustained government attack on the sanctity of the rights of the individual, including their right to be secure in their privacy and property, has created a moral and Constitutional crisis. America’s elected officials at all levels must renew their respect for the law and work to protect the rights of individuals."

Notably, Bob Barr's website contains an entire section entitled "Individual Liberty." Bob's the real conservative in this race. he wants the government out of your life, not intruding farther farther into it. His is the stance of Barry Goldwater--that the federal government that leaves its citizens alone is the one that we should strive towards.

A Strong National Defense, Without Nation-Building

Bob Barr understands the need for a strong national defense, but he categorically rejects the efforts of the current adminstration--and John McCain--to use the men and women of the United States armed forces to nation-build. Barr, from his website:

• "For far too long and at the cost of American blood and treasure, our great military has been too willingly and quickly used for purposes other than national defense. Our fighting men and women deserve better and the integrity of our nation must be restored.
• Our National Defense policy must renew a commitment to non-intervention. We are not the world's police force and our long, yet recently tarnished, tradition of respecting the sovereignty of other nations is necessary, not from only a moral standpoint, but to regain the respect of the world as a principled and peaceful nation.
• The proper use of force is clear. If attacked, the aggressor will experience firsthand the skillful wrath of the American fighting man. However, invading or initiating force against another nation based upon perceived threats and speculative intelligence is simply un-American. We are better than the policy of pre-emptive warfare."

These principles are fundamentally the principles of the Republican Party, before it was hijacked by the current administration, who promised a foreign policy that was careful not to engage in nation-building, but delivered precisely the opposite.

Indeed, the issue of fiscal restraint--again, a core value of the GOP, pre-George W. Bush--is intimately related to a sensible foreign policy. Many conservatives are outraged at the prolonged nature of the Iraq conflict, and its exorbitant cost. Yet John McCain offers only more of the same. On this issue, a return of the Republican Party to its roots can best be accomplished by voting for Bob Barr, a true conservative, and rejecting the policies of John McCain.

More from Bob Barr on national defense and foreign restraint can be found here.

Welcome to Republicans For Barr

Has the Republican Party, courtesy of George W. Bush, left you behind in a fit of big-spending, nation-building, and a host of other activities that have nothing to do with freedom and liberty and everything to do with big government, big federal government?

Me too.

And I'm fed up.

So I offer you a better solution. You don't just have two choices--McCain or Obama. Yes, I know, if you're a staunch fiscal conservative like me, you're not likely to sign on with the Obama campaign, but I'm here to urge you to think outside the box. Don't just default to the Republican candidate like so many did in 2000 and 2004. Instead, send a message of liberty to the Grand Old Party: that the days of trashing the small-government legacy of Barry Goldwater and Ronald Reagan are over. Don't vote for John McCain. He doesn't represent our values of small-government, federalism, restrained and defense-oriented foreign policy, and freedom. Instead, he offers years and years of foreign-policy quagmires, with possible expansion to Iran, and a continued assault on liberty here at home that is breathtaking in its scope and horrifying in its destruction of sacred constitutional principles. John McCain is a big-goverment Republican and its time to send that wing of the GOP home to pack its bags.

Vote for Bob Barr. Vote for a true conservative.

In the days and weeks ahead, I'll be providing you as much information as I can about Bob. He's a renowned fiscal conservative. He offers the real deal: lower taxes, reduced spending, a drastically slimmed-down federal government, a curtailment of the federal government's assaults on our freedom here at home, and a return of the country to the vision of the founders--as a bastion of liberty, not a big-spending, nation-building, freedom-crushing behemoth.

For now, check out his official campaign site, and I'll be back frequently with updates.

Vote for liberty, small government and federalism. Vote Barr '08.