Libertarian candidate Bob Barr sent a letter to President Bush earlier today asking to be involved in the bailout negotiations - a request that apparently fell on deaf ears since he wasn't at the meeting when it began just a short while ago. Here's an excerpt from the press release sent out by Barr's campaign:

"I respectfully request to be included in the discussions with congressional leaders, Senators McCain and Obama and representatives of your administration," Barr requests in his letter to Bush. "I am adamantly opposed to the commitment of taxpayer's hard-earned money to protect the companies and individuals who made bad investment decisions."

"I also urge you to require that any company or entity that ever applies for benefits from this misguided bailout be required to preserve every document, communication and record effective today, so that the Justice Department can appropriately investigate the causes of the company's financial collapse and hold accountable the Directors and Executives," Barr continues.

In a statement released on Wednesday, Barr said a vote for the bailout package, "in whatever form it comes in, is a vote against the American taxpayer, and a vote against the free market."

Barr also condemned McCain's call for more regulation and oversight, saying such regulation is government seeking to micro-manage the U.S. economy. "Capitalism involves losses as well as profits," Barr explains. "When government tries to insulate businesses and investors from paying for their mistakes, we all lose. In a Barr administration, there would be no more corporate bailouts or takeovers."