Bob Barr the Wicken Priest?
Posted on 05/18/2008 6:42:16 AM PDT by Oshkalaboomboom
Former U.S. Rep. Bob Barr of Georgia, a presidential hopeful, has raised a lot of money for conservative causes, but ... DOES HE SPEND IT WISELY?
On April 1, former Congressma Bob Barr wrote to rally conservatives across the country to stop liberals from solidifying control of Congress.
"If we don't act fast —- I'm afraid conservatives may well lose out again!" he implored in a letter sent by his political action committee.
The Bob Barr Leadership Fund, he wrote, has played a "tremendous role" in helping conservative Republicans defeat liberal congressmen. Since 2003, Barr's PAC has raised $4.3 million with similar mailings.
But only a small portion of that money has made its way to Republican campaigns.
In the last five years the fund has given $125,200 —- about three cents of every dollar raised —- to federal candidates and other campaign committees, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution has found in a review of reports filed with the Federal Election Commission. Another $81,875 went to state and local campaigns.
The fund spent more than $710,000 in that period on administrative costs, including office expenses, $41,109 in salary for Barr's son Derek and a $500 political consulting fee for his son Adrian. It also paid $865 for travel for Barr's wife, Jeri.
Most of the fund's spending —- $3.3 million, or about 78 percent of all gifts from donors —- paid for raising more money, including mailing lists, postage and telemarketing.
"It costs money to raise money," Barr said.
In the letter, Barr told potential donors the fund played a "tremendous role" in ousting Sen. Tom Daschle (D-S.D.) in 2004 and provided "critical funding" in 2006 for freshman Rep. Michele Bachman (R-Minn.). But records show the fund made modest donations in those races: $1,000 to John Thune, Daschle's opponent, and $1,500 to Bachman.
The letter states he also raised tens of thousands of dollars in 2002 for Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R-Ga.). The organization, however, donated nothing to Chambliss that year; a fund official wrote in an e-mail that Barr, not the fund, helped raise about $20,000 for that race.
Over the years, the federal candidate who received the most contributions from Barr's fund has been Barr himself —- $10,000. The fund gave $12,000 to the Libertarian National Committee.
The letter made no mention of Barr's recent campaign for the Libertarian Party's nomination for president, in which he has criticized many Republicans in Congress. Libertarians will choose their candidate at a convention this week in Denver.
Barr, a former federal prosecutor, defended the fund's solicitations and expenditures in a telephone interview. He declined to answer questions about individual donations and the letter's characterization of their importance.
"I won't be cross-examined" about the fund's finances, he said.
In an e-mail, the fund's treasurer, Paul Kilgore of Athens, wrote that the letter was "in production well before the decision to form an exploratory committee was reached. ... [T]here is certainly no requirement that we mention anything specifically in our letters."
The fund "is designed to further conservative and libertarian ideals that I espouse," Barr said. That includes some travel expenses, he said, as he speaks at political gatherings, universities and law schools.
Barr brushed aside questions about high fund-raising costs and the number of direct donations to candidates and causes.
"Fine, it doesn't operate the way other PACs operate," he said. "Next question."
'Just sustaining himself'
Federal law requires a committee like Barr's, once set up, to donate money to at least five candidates for federal office, and to limit donations to any one candidate or committee to $5,000 per election cycle.
Otherwise, "they can spend their funds as they want, as long as they report it," said George J. Smaragdis, spokesman for the Federal Election Commission.
Barr's group is a so-called "leadership fund," a type of political action committee used by current and aspiring party leaders to collect money and disperse it to candidates and committees.
Political action committees have become an integral part of the money side of American politics. Businesses, unions and others use them to raise and distribute millions of dollars and thereby influence politicians and policy.
Barr's use of donations for fund-raising and his own expenses is unlike most leadership funds, said Sarah Dufendach, chief of legislative affairs for Common Cause, the Washington-based nonpartisan public-interest advocacy group.
"It's not supposed to be for the benefit of that particular person," she said. "The leadership PACs are supposed to be for the support of other candidates. He is just sustaining himself."
Kilgore, the PAC treasurer, said direct mail is "a very expensive proposition" for raising money.
He would know. Kilgore operates two political consulting firms: Capitol Hill Lists LLC, which provides lists of potential donors for direct mail, and Professional Data Services, which handles campaign record keeping. Barr's fund has paid $293,652 to those companies since 2003.
Barr's fund "doesn't do gangbusters," he said, but brings in enough "to allow Bob to speak and spread his word."
Democrat funded, too
Barr, 59, represented northwest suburbs of Atlanta for four terms in Congress after his election in 1994. He gained national attention for his role in President Clinton's impeachment proceedings.
In 2002, Barr left his district, moving to the district of a popular Republican colleague, Rep. John Linder. Barr challenged Linder in that year's primary and lost.
Once out of office, Barr dramatically increased fund-raising by the leadership committee, originally known as the American Sound Conservative PAC.
It raised $436,143 in 2003. Last year's donations of $1.17 million made it the second-largest federal PAC based in Georgia.
While most of its federal donations have gone to conservative Republicans, its state and local contributions have been mixed. Recipients include Georgia Secretary of State Karen Handel, a Republican, and Attorney General Thurbert Baker, a Democrat, as well as a Libertarian running for the government of the Potawatomi tribe.
Since leaving Congress, Barr has promoted Libertarian causes in speeches and writings, including regular columns in Creative Loafing and The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. After Barr set up a presidential exploratory committee last month, the AJC suspended publication of Barr's column and blog.
Last week, Barr declared the Democratic and Republican parties to be failures as he formally announced his Libertarian candidacy.
His April 1 fund-raising letter disparaged "do-nothing Republicans" who let liberals dominate Congress. But, in discussing donations and the fund's work, it only mentioned contributions to conservative Republicans.
Barr bristled at questions about the letter.
"I suspect you can take any letter of a candidate or political organization, and you can parse it six ways to Sunday and find something wrong in it," he said. "I fail to see the relevance in that."
Donors taken aback
Some donors contacted by the AJC said they did not expect their donations would pay for Barr's travel, office expenses or fund-raising.
"I thought it was going to benefit the Republican Party," said Edith Fogleman, 85, of Burlington, N.C. "I thought it was going for a good cause. I didn't know he was switching [to Libertarian]. I don't quite understand what he's doing."
Fogleman, who gave at least $145 since 2006, said she stopped after learning Barr might run as a Libertarian.
Dolphus Compere, a retired doctor in Fort Worth, Texas, said he is a lifelong Republican who strongly supports a strict immigration policy.
He said he gave the fund $285 since 2006 because "I thought he was going to help people who promoted conservative causes."
Compere recently stopped giving money to Barr.
"I'm 90 years old and I've decided this country's going to pot and I can't help it," he said.
Others, such as Susan Kado, 87, of Vista. Calif., said Barr could use the donations however he wanted.
But Kado said she recently decided she couldn't afford to give more on her fixed income.
She has written to the fund about her decision, saying she is sorry, but the form letters still arrive.
"They don't seem to read my letters," she said.
HOW MUCH OTHER PACS DONATE
A comparison of money raised by the nation's largest political leadership funds, and the percentage donated to federal candidates, since January 2007.
Organizer
Raised
Donated
Percent
—-
New Republican Majority Fund*
Ex-Sen. Trent Lott (R-Miss.)
$2,393,350
$185,000
8
—-
Ameripac
Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-Md.)
$2,031,610
$855,000
42
—-
Progressive Patriots Fund
Sen. Russ Feingold (D-Wis.)
$1,666,726
$144,075
9
—-
Freedom Project
Rep. John Boehner (R-Ohio)
$1,655,032
$669,715
40
—-
National Leadership PAC
Rep. Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.)
$1,633,165
$643,792
39
—-
Bob Barr Leadership Fund
Ex-Rep. Bob Barr (R-Ga.)
$1,393,750
$51,050
4
—-
Every Republican Is Crucial
Rep. Eric Cantor (R-Va.)
$1,220,917
$632,000
52
—-
*Disbanded in February
My friend then went around to the local Metaphysical bookstores and bragged about what happened and his part in it (considering it was like a Stephen King book why wouldn't he?) The next thing we knew people starting coming at us with these problems. One person was a victim of a group that dominated a local institute of higher learning where she was a student. The head of the group ran the school and pretended to be a good family values conservative Republican. Another leader was a person with membership in the ACLU and a prominent position in that group(no one actually knew what the real gender of this person was). The victim was attacked in our presence. To make matters known this group did have significant contacts with local politicians one of whom was Bob Barr. Our contact felt that Bob Barr did in fact know what was going on if in fact he was not a part of it.
Point-be Very weary of Bob Barr. Be very very afraid of him. something is not right.
When Bob Barr joined the ACLU I immediately thought of this trans-gendered person as probably his access to this group.
Bob Barr the Wicken Priest?
Have you tried the Thorazine skin patch?
But truly Buckhead you are one of my heros.
You understood that post? You’re one up on me! Good on ya!
I have on good authority that Bob carries with him at all times a goat hair string of chicken bones to cast spells on political opponents. My understanding is that he put the mojo on Hillary.
You’ll not find many takers for trans-gendered black magic conspiracies to which Barr is “connected” by 6 degrees of separation.
I’ll listen if Dr. Van Helsing makes a personal appearance, summons and slays 12 demons, and forces Barr to confess that he is their servant. Until then, this makes the Heavens Gate Hale-Bopp guys look like the Kiwanis Club.
I’ve given thought to voting for Bob Barr is McCain acts and campaigns in too much of a left of center way. But it seems the more we find out about Bob Barr the less I like him. He seems to be a bit of an egomaniac.
it happens commonly in business
That explains a lot.
They might be right. From Rasmussen today:
"In a four-way race, Obama earns 42% of the vote, McCain 38%, Bob Barr 6% and Ralph Nader 4%."
I live in his area, I have been to political meetings when he was the speaker. Be aware, he is no conservative. He is not what he tries to present to the public.
One wonders why it seems so little gets done and so little gets accomplished with the hundreds of millions donated by “conservatives” to “conservative causes” each year.
95% are varying shades of shams and the law protects them because it it rampant on both sides and neither is going to sponsor or support legislation that kills the golden goose.
How can anyone justify spending 50%-75% on honest peoples donations on getting MORE donations? The waste is criminal.
BTW - Guess who ends up with the lion's share? The mail list, “caging” and direct mail companies.
Guess who owns those companies? Guess whose friends and relatives are on the payroll of those companies, receiving a paycheck for doing nothing? If you look you probably won't find much on the surface because they are all privately held and do not have the same disclosure rules as say a non profit or 527. You have to dig REAL deep to find where all the bodies are buried and God help those who do because this is a multi-billion dollar a year “business” and they are not about to let it be exposed.
Doesn’t look like much of a hit piece if the numbers are true. It looks like he talks a good game but is in it for the money.
I think staying with smaller nonprofits can be the way to go. 527s are more about publicity and education though aren’t they?
It’s a hit piece because MOST politicians do it. Why did they single out Barr at this time?
All a small non profit is a someone who wants to be a large non profit so they can scam like the rest.
There are some good ones out there but they are the exception to the vast rule. It’s like a borderline tax shelter everyone uses. Everyone knows it’s immoral but they justify it by telling themselves everyone does it and they aren’t going to be left out in the cold or at a disadvantage by actually bringing some morality into the question.
They’re almost all corrupt, they’re almost all immoral and they’re almost all sick. Once you accept this premise it makes politics a whole lot more understandable.
But, again see if you can connect some dots. A politician who has those contacts might use it to make certain that someone who gets to close to his wife suddenly dies of a suicide. Or someone who suddenly announces that he is going to testify against the politician suddenly gets a heart attack on the same day. Someone who is a financier of opposition groups might find someone with a gun closing in to shoot him. But, that person may kill himself if he has enough resistance to those forces or he might do it as a result of protection around the forementioned financier. If the politician suspects someone of stealing from him that person might be found to commit suicide while his wife is fondled by the politician as an act of revenge. Again I will leave it to you to connect the dots.
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