Bob Barr Eyeing Run as a Republican

Former congressman and U.S. presidential candidate Bill Barr said at Tuesday’s  meeting that he is “looking very seriously” into running for Georgia’s new 14th Congressional District that will be created as a result of the 2010 U.S. Census.

A map of the new district has been proposed and is being reviewed at this time by the Justice Department. The current proposed district includes 12 counties in northwest Georgia.

“It took parts of my old district, parts of Phil Gingrey’s current district and parts of Nathan Deal’s old district right up against the Tennessee line,” Barr said. “A lot of that is the area that I represented for eight years.”

Barr represented Georgia’s Seventh District in the U.S House of Representatives as a Republican from 1995 to 2003. Though he identifies himself as a Libertarian, he said he would seek office in the next election as a Republican.

He may be listed as Republican on the ballot in 2012, but Barr’s politics leaned Libertarian on Tuesday. He spent much of the meeting talking about the need for government reform, particularly concerning government regulations and the tax code.

“If you’re out there as a business and you’re succeeding, you know the government is going to come after,” he said. “Government does not like people succeeding unless it’s those that they’ve given permission to or have money from the government.”

He expressed that though he’s displeased with their personal antics, many of the Republican presidential hopefuls have “good ideas” concerning taxes and government spending that he hopes take hold during the 2012 election cycle, particularly Texas Gov. Rick Perry’s “flat tax.”

“Going to a system, for example, like Perry’s flat tax that would have a major impact because it does level the playing field,” he said. “You have a flat tax. I think his figure is 20 percent. Large corporation pays it, small company pays it, the individual pays it. I was a little bit surprised that what he’s proposing at least initially is to enable corporations or individuals to file the flat tax form as an alternative to the current, so you’ll have both. I thought when he first talked about it last week it was a piece of legislation that I will work as my top priority in Washington to get this through. It’s a little bit different. Not quite as impactful if it’s just an alternative, but certainly any tax reform is better than no tax reform.”

The Smyrna Rotary Club meets every Tuesday at 12:15 p.m. at the . Also find the Smyrna Rotary Club on Facebook. Those interested in joining the club can contact Jay Treadwell at 770-355-0063.