Barr set to attend 5 events

Libertarian presidential candidate and former U.S. Rep. Bob Barr will make five campaign stops in Charleston today as he tries to drum up support for his long-shot bid. He also likely will talk a lot about the failure of the financial rescue bill — a bill that he opposed.

Barr will give a 10 a.m. speech at The Citadel's Wachovia Auditorium inside Bond Hall, and he will speak to the Charleston Rotary Club at 12:30 p.m.

He also will give a speech at the College of Charleston's Physicians Auditorium at 2:30 p.m. before returning to The Citadel to give a speech to an MBA class at Bond Hall at 5:45 p.m. He will be at a 7 p.m. fundraiser at Sunfire Grill, 1090 Sam Rittenberg Blvd. in West Ashley.

Barr's campaign issued a statement Monday urging Congress to vote against the $700 billion bailout. "This bailout package doesn't resolve the underlying problems. It merely transfers the liabilities to the taxpayers," he said. "Instead, we need to make Wall Street take the hit for its irresponsible investment decisions. The process will be painful. Some companies will go bankrupt. Some firms will go into receivership. Healthy companies will take over failing institutions."

Barr said the bailout bill also is bad because it would lead to more federal meddling in the economy. Barr was a Republican when he represented Georgia's 7th Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1995 to 2003, but he is running as the Libertarian Party's candidate this year.

Reach Robert Behre at 937-5771 or at rbehre@postandcourier.com.