by Bob Barr | Nov 1, 2019 | Uncategorized |
The Atlanta Journal Constitution For decades, Atlanta has thrived as a hub for domestic and global businesses. The city serves as a home to numerous Fortune 500 companies, including Coca-Cola, Delta Airlines, and The Home Depot. The economy for metro Atlanta ranks as the 10th-largest in the country. Both Atlanta and the entire state have enjoyed a boom in film and technology due to strategically deployed tax credits. But Georgia’s status as one of the very top states in which to do business could be ripped out beneath us if new Hollywood transplants continue their crusade to expand a leftist political agenda here. Recently, they have taken to pressuring banking institutions to sever their ties from lawful businesses that don’t align with their liberal ideals. It is critical that banks in our state, and around the country, stand strong against this fiscal discrimination in order to ensure the continued stability of our successful economy.Boycott campaigns, similar to the one invoked against HB 481, the pro-life “heartbeat bill,” have been designed by liberal and Hollywood elites to shift legislation and political momentum in their favor. Unsurprisingly, with some initial success and the endorsement of leftist luminaries like U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders and U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, activists are becoming increasingly aggressive. Now, instead of taking to the streets, these activists are taking to corporate board rooms and demanding that banks stop financing industries they despise.This strategy actually is not new.In 2013, the Obama Administration quietly launched an insidious program – cleverly named “Operation Choke Point” – designed deliberately to starve (or “choke off”) disfavored industries of banking services and other...
by Bob Barr | Oct 30, 2019 | Uncategorized |
Townhall.comIn the not too distant past, most adults realized that not everything one saw on the internet or on social media was to be taken as true. Today, however, what used to be a sarcastic phrase – “I saw it on the internet so it must be true” – is taken quite literally, regardless of the online source for such information; especially if it confirms our existing opinions and beliefs. This reflects a deep-seated cultural problem far beyond the ken of the Congress to solve; yet, of course, they try. And, as is par for the congressional course, they are pinning blame on an easy target: Facebook.While Facebook certainly can be blamed for plenty of social ills, including the proliferation of “fake news” by its billions of users, as a private company it is frankly none of Congress’ business what it does with its platform. More to the point, expecting Facebook to lead the war against a societal problem for which “fake news” is but a symptom, is a waste of time and money, and sets a very bad precedent for legislative meddling. Facebook can’t fix stupid, and “stupid” is the real problem.At the most fundamental level, allowing Congress, or any third party, to sanitize and label what is and is not “real” information is a terrible reflection of the intellectual laziness that infects our society. Have we become so averse to engaging in threshold research, or asking basic questions necessary to determine if something actually makes sense or is logically sound, that we need Mark Zuckerberg or Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez to help us arrive at the “truth,” or more...
by Bob Barr | Oct 28, 2019 | Uncategorized |
The Daily CallerThe number of ways in which Democrats have abused the rules of the House of Representatives, the jurisdiction of committees, the importance of precedent, and virtually every other aspect of their so-called “impeachment inquiry” is clear beyond any reasoned dispute.However, if Republicans continue to focus their energies on process, no matter how accurate their complaints, they will never gain the offensive advantage critical to ensuring President Trump remains in office.Ask the average voter if he or she cares whether Democratic California Rep. Adam Schiff has abused his power as chairman of the House Intelligence Committee by investigating matters that have nothing to do with oversight of the Intelligence Community, and the response is likely to be a blank stare. Sure, individuals who serve in the CIA care; but the average American voter, not so much.Debate whether a resolution has or has not been introduced in the House of Representatives officially directing the House Judiciary Committee to begin a formal “inquiry of impeachment” as had been the case in prior impeachments, and listeners’ eyes are as likely to glaze over as to express interest in what is a “House Resolution.” To those of us who are or have been involved in such matters, that is a valid and important question. But few others would understand or care about such a technicality.As we witnessed during the impeachment of President Clinton 20 years ago, it was far easier for his cohorts to defend the charges against him by claiming “it was all about sex,” than it was to argue the merits or lack thereof of “perjury” or “obstruction of justice”...
