June 22, 2004
Holy Shit! Bob Barr Isn't Totally Nuts!
By Byron LaMasters
Guess who spoke in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee today in opposition to the Federal Marriage Amendment? None other than the author of the Defense of Marriage Act, Bob Barr. The AP reports:
Former Rep. Bob Barr, R-Ga., told a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing that the Constitution shouldn't be used as a vehicle for banning homosexual marriage. His remarks suggested that some of the strongest opposition to the proposed amendment may come from conservatives who abhor gay unions.
"We meddle with the Constitution to our own peril," Barr said. "If we begin to treat the Constitution as our personal sandbox, in which to build and destroy castles as we please, we risk diluting the grandeur of having a constitution in the first place."
[...]
Barr, author of the Defense of Marriage Act denying federal recognition to gay unions, said in prepared testimony that conservatives should resist the temptation to use the Constitution to strangle states' rights. He said the Defense of Marriage Act was sufficient to deny recognition to homosexual marriage, and noted that it has yet to be successfully challenged.
Bob Barr may just have to turn in his credentials as a member of the bigot wing of the Republican Party if he keeps this up. Or perhaps, Bob Barr just got tired of the Elizabeth Birch's of the world asking him which one of his three marriages the Defense of Marriage Act was actually defending. Regardless, the Federal Marriage Amendment debate is making some strange alliances.
Posted by Byron LaMasters at June 22, 2004 12:37 PM
| TrackBack
I agree with that assessment.As a libertaian republican,we don't need to take to amending the constitution lightly.This is a states' rights issue in my opinion.By the way,thanks for the inspiration for the name of my new blog.Even though I disagree with most of things on this website,I have found it to be informative and entertaining.
Tobacco-Free Kids Launches Campaign to
Stop Congress’ Sweetheart Deal for Big Tobacco
Washington, DC – In response to the U.S. House of Representatives’ plan to sneak through a “sweetheart deal” for Big Tobacco by attaching it to an unrelated corporate tax bill, the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids has launched www.StopBigTobacco.org, a nationwide campaign calling on the U.S. Senate to insist that this plan be excluded from the final bill.
At issue is a provision of the House-passed tax bill (called the Foreign Sales Corporation, or FSC, bill) that amounts to a $10 billion, taxpayer-funded giveaway to tobacco companies. The provision was added to win votes for the controversial tax bill from tobacco-state lawmakers. It is billed as a buyout for tobacco farmers, but really amounts to a sweetheart deal for tobacco companies and a raw deal for everyone else. This plan does nothing to protect public health and reduce tobacco’s tremendous toll in health, lives and money. It makes taxpayers pay for the buyout instead of the tobacco companies, adds to the federal budget deficit and eliminates all price and production controls on tobacco, which would allow tobacco to be grown anywhere in the United States.
This House buyout shortchanges small family farmers and provides an unwarranted windfall to the tobacco companies. Tobacco companies benefit because they do not have to pay for the buyout and they end up with cheaper tobacco. The Congressional Research Service has estimated that tobacco companies will save between half a billion and two billion dollars a year under such a buyout proposal.
Visitors to www.StopBigTobacco.org can send a message to their Senators urging them to reject the House’s proposal. The campaign, which was made public last week, has already generated over 17,000 letters from www.StopBigTobacco.org to Congress from Americans who believe that Congress should protect public health, not Big Tobacco’s bottom line.
Voters know that that House buyout plan is a bad deal for them. According to a nationwide poll of voters, conducted June 11-13, 80 percent are opposed to the House tobacco buyout plan, including 67 percent who are strongly opposed. Republicans, Democrats and Independents alike are strongly opposed.
Instead of the House buyout plan, the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids has urged Congress to pass separate legislation that includes effective Food and Drug Administration regulation of tobacco products and a responsible tobacco farmer buyout that is paid by the tobacco companies, not the taxpayers.
The Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids is building a healthier future for our children by changing public attitudes and public policies regarding tobacco use. The Campaign strives to prevent kids from smoking, help smokers quit and protect everyone from secondhand smoke. For more information, go to www.tobaccofreekids.org
Barr may indeed be nuts, but this doesn't strike me as the evidence. This strikes me as a conservative who was willing to stand up for "real" conservative values even when they might mess with his general conservative agenda.
I can only hope that I could draw an equally clear line in the sand when it came to some equally vexing situation challenging my liberal agenda.
I know nothing more of this story, but based on what's been said here, my hat is off to Barr, his obnoxious views on gay marriage notwithstanding.
as the old saying goes, "a stopped clock is right twice a day". I'm not giving Barr more credit than he deserves - on balance he is still a right wing fanatic
