Saying that “the government has run amok fiscally,” former Congressman and former Republican Bob Barr has announced his candidacy for the Libertarian presidential nomination. (See the LA Times article.)
I don’t know Bob Barr from beans, but I like his way of putting things. Run amok, indeed! Both the Republicans and the Democrats at the Federal level have lost any sense of fiscal responsibility. When we had the “tax more and spend more Democrats” and the “cut taxes and cut spending Republicans,” we could count on some sanity in the budget process. I’m not talking fairness or effectiveness, just sanity. Sure, the two sides seldom agreed on fiscal spending priorities, but they seemed to agree on the basic principle of having enough revenue to cover expenditures. At least most of the time. At least close to enough.
Then somewhere along the lines, both parties got hooked on the idea of borrowing. Well, why not? It’s the American way. We the people set a bad example for the politicos.
Or was it the other way around?
I doubt I’ll vote for Bob Barr, but I like his budgetary rhetoric.
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