by Bob Barr | Apr 25, 2018 | Uncategorized |
Townhall.com In a delicious twist of fate, one of the planet’s most liberal companies, Starbucks, once again is begging the Left for forgiveness. The coffee giant’s previous mea culpa was in 2014, after Starbucks angered the gun control movement by having the audacity to declare it would respect the Bill of Rights by allowing customers who chose to lawfully exercise their Second Amendment rights into its coffee shops. This time, the issue that has Founder and Executive Chairman Howard Schultz twisting himself in a philosophical knot is not guns, but race. Notwithstanding Schultz’s repeated hand-wringing over what he appears to consider the sad state of race relations in America, and despite his ongoing efforts to ensure not a single one of his more than 180,000 employees ever does or says anything that anyone might construe as racially insensitive, the unthinkable happened. Earlier this month at a Starbucks in Philadelphia, a “barista” set the coffee world on fire when, after two African American men refused to order a drink and asked to use the restroom while they waited for someone else to join them, the barista (who is white and now unemployed) called police. Clearly, the former employee’s decision to call in the posse was unnecessary and a lapse in judgment. Schultz, however, apparently was shocked to discover that his employees are human and will from time to time do or say something stupid. The CEO’s over-the-top reaction to the incident speaks volumes about contemporary Western culture. In ages past, a mistake by the manager of a chain restaurant as was seen here, would be dealt with by an apology to the customers, and...
by Bob Barr | Apr 18, 2018 | Uncategorized |
Townhall.com If there was ever a time to revive the term “low energy” — President Donald Trump’s devastating 2016 epithet for Jeb Bush — it would be to describe Congress’ lethargic performance during last week’s hearings on consumer privacy and Facebook, featuring social media wunderkind Mark Zuckerberg. Rather than the hard-hitting grilling of Facebook’s founder and CEO that many had hoped to see, members of the congressional committees conducting the hearings exhibited instead the stereotypical, maladroit grandparents hopelessly lost as the grandson tries to explain the basics of electronic media. Facebook is the world’s largest social media platform, with more than a billion active users. Having its CEO not only present, but willing to answer questions from members of Congress regarding consumer privacy, was a historic opportunity. And, for a brief moment before the questioning began, it appeared a potentially watershed moment might be at hand for cooperation between Silicon Valley and Washington, D.C., to substantively address privacy in the Age of Social Media. Instead, Zuckerberg was able to answer only the questions he wanted, often with waffling answers that ducked accountability and deflected anything that really went to the heart of the data issues; all with barely any truly meaningful cross-examination from Senators or Representatives. Answers couched in phrases such as, “we do not generally . . . ” or “I’m not specifically aware of . . ., ” allowed Zuckerberg to parry the bumbling probes of members, some of whom either clearly did not understand the basics of electronic media, or had other points to make during their allotted time. Zuckerberg is brilliant, wealthy and poised; characteristics...
by Bob Barr | Apr 13, 2018 | Uncategorized |
The Hill Most candidates and elected officials dislike making fundraising calls; some hate it. But until we come up with another way to fund the increasingly expensive media campaigns necessary to compete in congressional, statewide or national elections, fundraising will continue to be an essential part of the job in which every politician not sufficiently wealthy to self-fund their campaigns must engage. Yet, while nearly every politician must make fundraising calls, few really understand the legal distinction between lawful fundraising and the federal crimes of bribery and extortion. In fact, the lines between “lawful’ and “unlawful” are so blurred that even federal judges have described this area of federal law as “murky.” This is hardly surprising, insofar as the legal standards vary depending on the state in which you live and are seeking office. In some jurisdictions, including New York and New Jersey, politicians can avoid federal prison simply by not making any “explicit promise” to a potential donor. In other jurisdictions, however, including states in the Midwest, a politician can be jailed for extortion if a jury finds simply that he or she “believed” a requested donation “would be given in return” for some official act. This “Midwest” standard sets an extremely low, and troubling, bar for conviction. It is an inescapable fact that in a representative system of government such as ours — in which campaigns are funded not by the government using taxpayers’ money, but by voluntary citizen donations — donors who make or collect large contributions almost always want something in return for their support; this may include support for or against a piece of...
by Bob Barr | Apr 11, 2018 | Uncategorized |
Townhall.com If one were to pick an emblem of America’s global military might, the B-52 properly might top the list. The strategic bomber’s expansive 185-foot wingspan and 159-foot fuselage, make the “Stratofortress” a universally recognizable symbol of unrivaled aerial firepower. This is especially the case if you are unfortunate enough to be the target of its devastating payload – which can be munitions ranging from unguided or guided bombs, to cruise missiles or nuclear weapons. Reportedly, up to 500 Russian mercenaries fighting in Syria found this out the hard way in February, illustrating that when America wants to send a message, it is often the B-52 that serves as its courier. So then, what Middle Eastern country does the United States trust with hosting our regional fleet of B-52s, a crucial weapon in the fight against ISIS and other terrorist forces — Iraq? Saudi Arabia? United Arab Emirates? None of the above, actually. Instead, America turns to one of its biggest little allies in the world: Qatar. In terms of land mass, Qatar is slightly smaller than Connecticut. Yet, despite its small size, the nation is home to America’s largest air base in the world outside the U.S. Al Udeid airbase, located just outside the capital city of Doha, is home to some 11,000 military personnel. The base also serves as the overseas headquarters for United States Central Command. Qatar’s geographic location along the Persian Gulf, a stone’s throw from Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, and Pakistan is in part what makes the country such a strategic partner for the U.S.; another, less known facet of this partnership, however, is Qatar’s strong, pro-Western culture....
by Bob Barr | Apr 4, 2018 | Uncategorized |
Townhall.com Stan Marek can’t find men to hire. The work is there; an abundance of it as the housing market continues rebounding from the last recession. Marek told Fox News his construction company could easily add 600 positions to meet construction demand. But, as Marek notes, “there’s just not anybody you can hire out there…there’s work out there if we could find those people.” Marek’s is a common story in the construction industry: a deep housing market, but a shallow labor pool. According to business owners like Marek, many of these positions disappeared with last decade’s recession. Yet, as the demand for new construction recovered, the number of skilled laborers did not. Houses now take longer to build because crews are smaller, and new construction costs have soared as labor rates have increased to reflect the new supply and demand curve. For example, Bloomberg notes the cost of framing a 3,000 square foot house has nearly doubled in less than a year due to lack of skilled migrant labor. This adds thousands of dollars to the cost of new construction that home buyers are forced to pay. According to Fox News, the National Association of Home Builders notes that labor shortages are affecting more than half of the nation’s developers; a problem even more acute in the country’s hotter housing markets. One reason is many of the skilled laborers impacted by the recession left the industry in pursuit of new opportunities, or returned back to their home country. More recently, however, another factor impacting construction labor has arisen: President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown. Migrant labor is the life force of American construction. And, the crackdowns on both illegal...
by Bob Barr | Mar 28, 2018 | Uncategorized |
Townhall.com It comes as no surprise that Congress’ $1.3 trillion dollar omnibus budget package is rubbing raw the already thin patience of the Republican base. Rather than draining the swamp, which includes seizing this historic moment of Republican control of both Congress and the White House to dramatically cut government spending, Congress instead (with the support of the White House) is spending as recklessly as when Democrats were in charge. Coupled with scant legislative victories outside of President Donald Trump’s tax cuts, especially in regards to expanding gun rights, and it is clear Republicans are doing little to motivate voters to show up in November to keep them in power. That is why killing the United Nations Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) is precisely the low-hanging fruit Republicans need to score a quick and much needed victory with conservatives. And, just as Senator Majority Leader Mitch McConnell prefers it, doing so would require virtually no effort on his part. In September 2013, the Barack Obama Administration signed the UN-ATT, an international agreement that regulates the sale, transfer and export of conventional weapons, including “small arms and light weapons”; covering essentially every civilian firearm on the market. And, just as gun control activists in the United States claim their “common sense” demands are aimed at reducing “human suffering” attributed to firearms, the U.N. claims the ATT is needed in order to combat the international scourge of illicit firearms. As with virtually every other strategy hatched by the bureaucrats at the sprawling UN headquarters on the banks of the East River, such claims are nothing more than emotionally-driven and thinly-veiled attempts to...
