by Bob Barr | May 20, 2020 | Townhall Article |
Townhall.com Earlier this month – on May Day to be precise – one of the most liberal members of Congress (Illinois Rep. Bobby Rush) introduced a bill that would provide $100 Billion in its first year to jump start the process of “contact tracing” for COVID-19 infected persons. The bill would accomplish this through a proposed army of “mobile health units” and government-authorized visits to “individuals’ residences.” The bill quickly attracted conservative opposition, due in part because the number assigned to it – H.R. 6666 – is similar to “666,” which is the biblical “mark of Satan.” Predictably, left-wing media sources have been quick to ridicule such characterizations as an easy way to undermine substantive opposition to the measure. Make no mistake, however, the bill is a dangerous piece of legislation, not because of its number, but because of its substance. H.R. 6666 may not the work of the Devil, but it is the latest in a long line of legislative vehicles pushed by congressional Democrats (and some Republicans) to increase the federal government’s power to gather and database private information on citizens. This helps to accomplish what always has been the ultimate goal of the modern Democratic Party: control of the populace. In this latest effort, House Democrats have employed the tradecraft for which the Congress has become notoriously adept – hiding the true purpose of legislation behind a façade of protecting people from a known or perceived danger. In this case, the scourge of COVID-19. The avowed purpose of this and similar measures is, of course, not to erode individual privacy, but to “make us safe.” As with the...
by Bob Barr | May 6, 2020 | Townhall Article |
Townhall.com How much does silence cost? For China, it is at least $180 billion, which is how much the Chinese have spent in American investments over the last decade and a half, in sectors ranging from real estate to sports and entertainment. There is a financial incentive to such investments, of course, but the biggest and best return for the Chinese government may be the reluctance of American institutions to bite the hand that feeds them. It is an investment strategy that has paid off well for the Chinese Communist Party, particularly among leftist institutions in our country. Organizations that never seem to have issue finding fault with America are noticeably quiet when it comes to China. Take, for instance, last October when Daryl Morey, general manager for the NBA’s Houston Rockets, tweeted support for the Hong Kong protestors. If it were a tweet about social justice or paying NCAA athletes, it likely would have been little noticed. However, because the tweet was indirectly critical of the Chinese Communist Party, it created significant backlash for the NBA, ultimately costing them hundreds of millions of dollars as games were blacked out in China as punishment. Although the league did, at least, resist calls from China to fire Morey, the message from Beijing was clear – keep your mouth shut or risk losing a billion dollars in deals. Hollywood also remains firmly seated on the pro-China bandwagon. Movie actors and industry big wigs are notorious for their rants against America, routinely turning the Oscars into one long Democrat Party stump speech. No similar criticism is leveled at China, and the reason...
by Bob Barr | Apr 21, 2020 | Townhall Article |
Townhall.com The Chinese Communist Party (CCP), which controls the government and the citizenry of mainland China with an iron fist, is in large measure directly responsible for the incalculable economic and personal misery that has been visited on the United States and virtually every other country over the past four months resulting from the release of the coronavirus pandemic. It is time for the Trump administration to take concrete legal, economic, and diplomatic steps to hold Beijing accountable for this catastrophe. That the virus originated inside mainland China is beyond dispute. What is becoming increasingly clear is that the CCP deliberately and intentionally withheld vital information about the virus from the United States and other nations, so as to limit our ability to stem its reach and minimize its devastation. The Chinese government continues its campaign of misinformation and subterfuge to this day. This vile regime must be held accountable and the United States must lead that crusade. The result of China’s intentional deception about COVID-19 has cost tens of thousands of lives and trillions of dollars in economic loss, even as it has led to immense suffering among the healthy as well. None of this was caused by good faith mistake or negligence. It was calculated and deliberate. The remonstrations by China’s lackeys at the World Health Organization (WHO) notwithstanding, the United States must take the lead in holding China accountable, in concrete and meaningful ways. To start, President Donald Trump should announce the economic losses caused by COVID-19 will be offset by the U.S. debt owned by China; given that debt is a little over one trillion dollars, the...
by Bob Barr | Apr 1, 2020 | Townhall Article |
Townhall.com For more than 150 years, gun laws in the United States were essential, as written in the Bill of Rights: “A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.” It was not until the second half of the 20th Century that gun control as we know it took hold. By that time, of course, the United States had survived a bloody civil war, expanded territorially from the eastern seaboard to the Arctic Circle, fought in and emerged victorious in two World Wars, and was the only superpower to stand against the expansionist communist regimes in the Soviet Union and Red China. To say that the Second Amendment was instrumental in these iconic American stories is an understatement. Guns are intimately woven into the fabric of America’s unique, rugged individualism that has seen us survive numerous hardships in our country’s short existence; all without losing our quintessential grit and spirit of freedom. At least, it seems, until now. With the stroke of their pens, a number of far-left local mayors and state governors responding to the COVID-19 pandemic, have declared the Second Amendment “non-essential.” Based not on centuries of American history and decades of legal precedent saying otherwise, these anti-gun officials saw a window of opportunity to make irrelevant, even if temporarily, a sacred constitutional right. Closing down firearms retailers and shooting ranges effectively prevents large numbers of citizens from exercising their constitutionally guaranteed right to possess a firearm for self-defense; it also impedes the ability of police officers in...
by Bob Barr | Mar 18, 2020 | Townhall Article |
Townhall.com In his 2004 book, “Against Leviathan – Government Power and a Free Society,” Robert Higgs explains how our federal government has transformed from one of “defined and limited” powers as envisioned by our Founders, into one driven by a “Crisis Constitution.” As Higgs clearly establishes, we are living in “an age of permanent emergency.” The still-developing COVID-19 pandemic illustrates that this “emergency” mindset today is directing the hands of government leaders, not only in our nation’s capital, but in statehouses and city councils across the country. It is by now clear that the COVID-19 pandemic represents a serious health problem. At a minimum, individuals should be heeding common sense hygiene rules ranging from the personal – washing hands frequently – to the socially interactive – minimize contacts with high-risk populations such as the elderly and infirm. From a regulatory and resource management standpoint, President Trump and governors across the country are directing and implementing appropriate and much-needed measures to reduce red tape and make additional funds available, thereby helping government agencies and private businesses to better meet the challenges posed by this “novel” virus. Actions that bear a direct and reasonable relationship to the health crisis posed by the virus, and which are undertaken by government and private-sector entities in response thereto, make sense and are appropriate in current circumstances, even if they minimally or tangentially impact individual liberties guaranteed by our Constitution. Beyond such steps – when we enter the realm of far-reaching and vague “emergency” declarations that go beyond any reasoned relationship to containing and defending against the virus – we find ourselves in the dangerous territory described...
by Bob Barr | Mar 11, 2020 | Townhall Article |
Townhall.com The 2013 Edward Snowden leaks revealed for the first time the frightening extent to which post-9/11 national security powers had been expanded – and abused – in the decade thereafter. But it was not until the FBI’s partisan crusade against the Trump electoral victory, did we have a clear and vivid picture of the degree to which those powers could be abused in the hands of bitter and unaccountable intelligence officials. American citizens would finally come to realize that if it could happen to the President of the United States, it could happen to anyone. Ironically, it is because of this hubris deep inside America’s intelligence community that we are now closer than ever to reforming at least some of the abuses of the USA PATRIOT Act. With certain provisions of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) set to expire on Sunday – most notably the much-abused Section 215 — hope for restoration of at least some of America’s civil liberties is on the horizon (but not guaranteed). Sens. Rand Paul (R-KY) and Mike Lee (R-UT) once again are leading the fight to bring these expansive government surveillance powers back into line with the Fourth Amendment. It is unclear what will transpire over the next few days as party leaders seek to cobble together a majority of votes on one of the three possible outcomes; but also, to ensure the basic intelligence law remains on the books. The first is full reauthorization. And, if Rep. Adam Schiff and other surveillance hawks in Congress on both sides of the aisle have their way — with the full support of...
