I gave the following remarks as an opening statement at a town hall meeting tonight in Chambersburg, Franklin County, PA. After these remarks were given, audience members asked many questions. Unfortunately, we don't have any video of my responses. Sorry, I wasn't thinking. TB
HI! It's great to see everyone here tonight. I'm so glad you folks were able to make it.
We've got big problems in this country. I don't have to tell you folks that. Gas Prices, Jobs, Health Insurance, Global Climate Change, National Debt, and the War in Iraq are just a short list. I know these are the issues on your mind because you've told me so. I've spent the summer driving around this district, walking door to door, talking and listening to you the voters. The question is: what can we do? Well,before I tell you what I think we should be doing, I want to tell you who I am. I want to do this because who I am directly affects how I am going to go about the job. The how, of course, affects the what.
I've been many things in my life: boy playing in the woods, student, football player, wrestler, son...Currently, I am a teacher, a husband, a dad, a father, and a parent. Now, those last three may seem repetitive. But, I don't think so.
As a Dad, I love playing with my sons. Whether its jumping on the trampoline, taking hikes in the woods, or climbing on the playpark in our backyard, I love it. Just this past week, I taught both my boys how to ride a bike without training wheels. Did I mention I love being a Dad?
As a Father, I take discipline very seriously. Maybe it's because I'm a teacher and I see undisciplined children in school everyday, but I believe it is my duty to teach my sons to DO the right thing.
As a Parent, I prepare my sons for the future.
As an American, I have a duty to prepare the future for my sons.
All of these roles both past and present have led me to seek another role. Politician. That may seem like a dirty word to you, but I've done dirty jobs in the past. The thing about dirty jobs is is that they are necessary. Somebody has to do them. Somebody has to crawl under the car and change the oil.. Somebody has to climb down in the ditch and do the digging. Somebody has to hold their nose and change the baby's diaper...
Right now, this dirty job, Representative in Congress, is not being done well. It's not being done here in Central PA, nor is it being done well in many other places. It's time to get somebody who doesn't mind getting dirty, who doesn't mind mixing it up with the big boys, AND who will do it right by the people. I'm that guy.
Just like you can take the boy out of the woods, but you can't take the woods out of the boy. You can send me to DC, but you aren't going to change this bike-riding, wrestling, son of small-business parents, turned hiker-biker-kayaker Dad/Father/Parent/Husband/Teacher.
So, that's who I am. Now I want to change the "How" of how we do business. We've been electing millionaires to office. Now there is nothing wrong with earning success, but making a million dollars means that you don't have the worries that the other 99% of us do. Paying for a kids education, paying for healthcare, paying to get to work, paying to keep a roof over your family's head, paying to heat your house, facing the choice to heat or eat or pay for your life essential prescription drugs. These are not real worries for millionaires, but they are life and death for you and me.
Is it any wonder that Congress is not working for us. Why are we not surprised when they act only for the benefit of other millionaires? How many working class people are in the Congress? My opponent, the incumbent, is certainly not working class, nor has he ever been. He's the millionaire son of a millionaire congressman. Don't you think 36 years of one family in power is enough?
So how are we going to clean up this mess. I go back to my role as parent as a model for what we should do. NO, I'm not going to tell you what time you should be home, nor will I ground you for smoking, nor will I give you a time out. I won't because I don't believe government has any business sticking its nose in your business.
I do believe that Congress ought to concern themselves with the things stated in the preamble to the Constitution, "...establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity..
Now that last part is worth repeating, "...to our selves and our Posterity." To me, that means we must act not only for ourselves but for our kids and for our kids kids and for their kids kids. Enough of this short term profit, every person for themselves business that is causing the ruin of our country. Our bridges are literally falling down. Is that the country that you want?
For the past eight years, we've been going up and down as if we were on a roller coaster. Yes, roller coasters are fun. You go up, you go down, you go fast. It's scary, then its thrilling ,then you feel a little sick.
But worst of all you end up right back where you started, only now you are another buck poorer and somebody else is another buck richer...
Or we can take the stairs. I know it's not exciting, but each step builds on the next. With each step you grow stronger, and when you get to the top, you've actually gone somewhere. As a Dad, I like to occasionally ride rollercoasters with my boys. As a Parent, if we really want to get someplace, we take the stairs.
So how does this translate into policy. I believe that we must do what Americans do best, dream, plan, and work together to build a better community, a better nation and a better world.
Dreaming is where it begins, Don't knock dreaming, Dreaming is the American Way. The fear of losing the American dream, can and has, lead to all manner of disasters.
We all want that American dream. We want good jobs, affordable energy, affordable health insurance, world class education, clean air and water, safety and security. We want choices. We want prosperity. I believe that we can all agree on these things and we must be able to imagine that these things are possible again.
Now, we must plan. We must use the best science and research available when planning. We must sharpen our pencils and do our homework. We must form long term goals. We must devise steps to get there. What we do today must move us closer to our long term goal, else we end up back on the roller-coaster. We must realize that bumper-sticker slogans are not real plans.
Finally, we must work to get it done. To get any of this accomplished, we must work together.
I talk to and work with Republicans and Independents on a daily basis. Everybody agrees on what we want. Most people agree on what steps we should take. So, why isn't this being done today?
Congress works for the monied, corporate interests because that is who pays to get them elected. Laws are written for the benefit of the corporations. The corporations get richer, while the middle class gets beat up.
The time has come to end this system. This is why I am running. I think we need someone in the Congress to be looking out for working families.
I also believe the time has come for publicly funded elections. We pay for our government one way or the other. We can pay $6 per election cycle and have prosperity,
or we can pay nothing up front and pay for it on the back end in stagnating wages, increasing healthcare costs, increasing energy costs, and bridges that fall down.
What do you want?
I know what I want. I want to build things. I want to create jobs. I want to invest for the future. I want to build wealth that we all can enjoy. I want to put America back on the right track. My name is Tony Barr. I'm running for Congress. I thank you for coming out tonight.
I talked about who I am, and how I think we should go about it. I know that you have specific questions about what we should do. I will take those questions now.
If you would like more information about my campaign, or you would like to contribute to my campaign (Bless you) you can do so at my website: http://www.tonybarr2008.com Thank you and have a good evening.