Bob Barr’s extremely un-libertarian views on immigration

The Libertarian Party’s stance on immigration is quite clear. Bob Barr, on the other hand, is far less libertarian than even the Republicans and Democrats when it comes to immigration.

From Third Party Watch:

The following is a campaign letter from Bob Barr:

John McCain and Barack Obama Plan To Bring Back “COMPREHENSIVE IMMIGRATION REFORM”

From The Desk of Rep. Bob Barr

Dear Friend and Fellow American,

We’re facing a “new” crisis: BORDER SECURITY.

But really, this is the same crisis we faced last year at this time, when Senators John McCain and Ted Kennedy tried to push their “Comprehensive Immigration Reform” bill on us—supported by Senator Barack Obama!

The American people were able to STOP the McCain-Kennedy bill—but will we be able to stop PRESIDENT McCain (or PRESIDENT Obama) from pushing it through again?

We need to send a strong message to both the Republicans AND the Democrats, to let them know that WE MEAN BUSINESS when it comes to securing the border!

A lack of border security allows foreign criminals, carriers of communicable diseases, terrorists and other potential threats to enter the country unchecked. We must be aggressive in securing our borders while also fighting the big-government “nanny state” that seeks to coddle even those capable of providing for their own personal prosperity.

That’s one of the reasons I’m running for President of the United States—and I need YOUR help to make sure every voter in America will have a chance to send that strong message to both parties! CLICK HERE to donate now.

Last week, there was a closed-door meeting between Republican presidential candidate John McCain and a group of Hispanics. There was NO media allowed—but it DID get reported. And what did the Associated Press report? That “John McCain assured Hispanic leaders he would push through Congress legislation to overhaul federal immigration laws if elected.”

It’s McCain-Kennedy all over again – and now that McCain has the GOP nomination “sewn up,” he’s ready to start pushing it again!

A conservative Hispanic lady named Rosanna Pulido, an original “Minuteman” who has worked hard for years to fight the “pro-illegal immigration” crowd, got into that closed-door meeting, and in her report quoted John McCain as saying, “I was proud to work for Comprehensive Immigration Reform… and if I am elected President I assure you that in 2009 I will ask Congress to pass Comprehensive Immigration Reform.”

Pulido went on to report, “John McCain talked about a debate he was in about enforcing the law, and he says that the ‘other side had a lot of rhetoric… you know what I am talking about!’”

Steve Newton’s “Forty bucks for four Libertarians”

Forty bucks for four Libertarians on July 4?

Here’s what I would like to propose to my fellow Libertarians, especially those who are skeptical/hostile toward the top of the Libertarian ticket this year.

I’m cheap, and we’ve got a household of six people and two cats to consider, so large political contributions are out of the question.

On the other hand, even I can pry loose a measly forty bucks on Independence Day (or the day before; see below).

And here’s what I plan to do with it:

Send $10 to Dr. Michael Munger to support his campaign for Governor of North Carolina (but I’m sending it to him on July 3, because that’s the date of his money grenade–see the left side of the blog).

Send $10 to Allen Buckley to support his campaign for Senator in Georgia (hoping to offset the Barr PAC’s $3,000+ donations to Saxby Chambliess).

Send $10 to Scotty Boman to support his campaign for Senator in Michigan (if he gets $500 from this, maybe he can go to court to add a “W” to his name, which would be worth at least another 25,000 votes–inside joke, eh).

Send $10 to Jason Gatties to support his campaign for the Board of Trustees of Lake Michigan College (because, as a state-supported professor I really wish our trustees were elected).

You might think that $10 doesn’t make a damn bit of difference to these candidates.

But you’d be wrong.

It’s not even so much the money as the profound message you’ll be sending them that other Libertarians around the nation are watching their races, rooting for them, and want to help build a different kind of national political party.

These, by the way, are my candidate picks, people I’ve researched and can support. Feel free to find your own–but find four candidates around the country that you’re willing to support.

And if you’re flush–or willing to forego the second keg before the fireworks–send them each twenty bucks.

I can’t really think of anything better to do with the money this year.

Surprise — your privacy is even more compromised than you thought

Apparently, one may still travel by air without ID, if the TSA is convinced that the ID is lost, and you’re willing to undergo egregious privacy violations.  Consumerist reports on one traveler’s experience:

After filling out the affidavit, Laurie called a service to verify my address. The service needed me to then correctly answer three questions about myself, which Laurie relayed to me. The first was my date of birth, the second was a previous address (which I only got right on my second try), and the third was “You are registered to vote. Which political party have you registered with?” I got all three right, and only then did Laurie clear me to go through security.

Of course, I still had to submit to secondary screening, including a full-body pat-down and total luggage search. Brenda and Laurie stayed with me to make sure the process went as quickly as possible, and were again incredibly helpful and nice. They kept explaining over and over how necessary it was to “verify” who I was, and how times have changed, and how these new regulations must have been as a result of someone trying to get away with something, because there’s always a reason for these thing but they don’t always know what those reasons are. They were so nice and considerate that I waited until the very end before I finally said that I do not agree with the new regulations, but that I was thankful that the two of them acted so professionally and considerately to me. Laurie actually seemed a little dejected when I said this, because I had been playing along the entire time out of fear that I would not appear cooperative otherwise.

I can only imagine what the reaction would be if one answered “Libertarian” or “Green” — especially in states where those parties aren’t “officially recognized.”

One also has to marvel at the amount of sophisticated data that the so-called “service” has collected about travelers.  More than likely, the information is gleaned from credit records — a situation where one in four individuals has serious errors on “their” file.

This makes the cozy relationship between government and data collection companies a lot clearer.  The next time you make a purchase, buy a car, apply for a loan, or go on vacation, your transaction will be reported — possibly inaccurately — into the government’s database.  And if you seek to sue the big corporate credit bureaus for torts such as libel (inaccurately publishing damaging information), you’ll run head-long into federal laws protecting those bureaus from liability.

This cozy corporate-government privacy-busting superstate reminds me of a quote from Italian dictator Benito Mussolini: “Fascism should more appropriately be called Corporatism because it is a merger of state and corporate power.”

In the new American Security State, you are always under suspicion.  Your innocence is never accepted, your guilt, if asserted, never need be proven.  And both big government and big business are working together to ensure your liberties get traded in for their profit.