Chapter 1
Campaigning @ Fish’s Barney Inn
Not Exactly Readn, 'Ritn and 'Rithmatic.
RRRis the Kelly jobs plan for American prosperity. This book’s subtitle also describes it well: A Unique Plan for Economic Recovery and Job Creation!
On October 18, 2011, I participated in two of the most important events of my public “political” life. At 11:00 AM, after spending the evening with my sister Ann (Nancy) Flannery, and my life-long best friend Dennis Grimes at the historic Thomas Bond House (Bed & Breakfast extraordinaire) across the street from the historic Philadelphia City Tavern and right outside of Independence Park, all of which are in Pennsylvania, my home state, dual events transpired.
I had been the TEA Party endorsed Democratic candidate for Congressional Representative in District 11 in a five county area in Northeastern Pennsylvania (NEPA) in 2010 against a 13-term incumbent and a very young Country Commissioner from Lackawanna County. I had never run for elected office before. Hoping to gain office with no encumbrances, I took no campaign donations. I surprised everybody, including my wife, by grabbing about seventeen percent of the vote in a three-candidate race. The incumbent received less than 50% and this showed many of us that it was not just us, but a lot of other Democrats that had gotten tired of the incumbent’s lack of representation.
I have been a Democrat all my life other than two years as an Independent. I challenged the incumbent because he had become part of bad government in Washington DC and had been way too generous with taxpayer dollars being directed to his family members.
With most Democrats having voted for a change in representation in the primary, I knew the right thing for me to do was to help the Republican challenger to defeat the incumbent in the general election. Lou Barletta was a feisty pro-American Mayor in the small NEPA City of Hazleton. He is a fine man with conservative values like my father and I. He was clearly the best choice for the people of Northeastern PA.
In an area of Pennsylvania that was mostly Democratic, Lou Barletta won the election handily. My father would say, “Brian, always vote for the best man.” A ton of Democrats joined me in assuring that Northeastern PA is now represented by the best man after the 2010 general election. That man is Congressman Lou Barletta.
By the way, none of my family, some of whom are actually Republicans, and none of my friends were asked by Congressman Barletta to accept any government positions anywhere as a result of my assistance. There was no quid pro quo. Barletta was simply the best man and we voted him in. No paybacks were expected nor received. That is how America needs to operate. Our collective job is to help the best people get elected as our representatives and then we can smile when they are in a position to help all the people, not just a select few.
I trust that Lou Barletta will continue to bring honesty and integrity to the office in the 11th District.
TEA Party Endorsement
On October 18, 2011, long after the elections of 2010, and right about 11:00 AM, I met with the President of the Independence Hall TEA Party, Terri Adams, and the President of the TEA Party PAC, Don Adams. We were positioned directly in front of Independence Hall. I was about to announce my candidacy for the position of United States Senator from Pennsylvania. The position is currently held by Robert. P. Casey, Jr., the son of the famous former Governor of Pennsylvania, Robert P. Casey Sr.
Terri Adams and Don Adams, and their respective organizations had sponsored the event so that, on behalf of the TEA Party, they could personally endorse my candidacy for Senator. They had invited the press and others in the tri-state TEA party organization, which were able to make it at 11:00 AM. Since most TEA Party members hold jobs, none of us expected a phenomenal turnout in the middle of the day in the middle of the week, but it was very nice, nonetheless. So, the two-prongs of the event were the announcement of my candidacy along with the endorsement by the TEA Party of my candidacy. As my sister Nancy summed it up: “And a great day it was!”
Following the Philadelphia event, we journeyed to the State Capitol in Harrisburg for another TEA Party rally announcing my candidacy and a repeat of the TEA Party endorsement. Following the rally, the party of three from Northeastern PA took off again for the Northeast.
My speeches for Philadelphia and Harrisburg were very similar. Knowing that the people in NEPA often come to the Barney Inn in Wilkes-Barre on Fridays, the campaign decided to hold the event outside under their fine pavilion an hour before happy hour so there would be time for a lot of discussion with a lot of Pennsylvanians. The Barney Inn announcement was also covered by the press. The full text of the Barney Inn speech is on my web site, and it is also included as an appendix to this chapter. The web site is:
Look on the left side of the site for press kits, and then pick the Barney Inn Speech.
I must admit that in the weeks before the speech, I was enamored by the 999 taxation plan of Herman Cain, and I admired Herman’s tenacity even more as the scum of the earth tried to bring him down (the main stream media). The media showed extreme urgency in attempting to deal Cain a death blow as Obama, who never had a real job, obviously feared the prospects of running against a self-made businessman. The objective of Obama and his media surrogates was to defame Cain so a more beatable Republican candidate would be left to face the American Destroyer in Chief. Unfortunately, the incessant, tormenting pressure of the media, which was far different from that which President Clinton received from the same press for far more credible accusations, ultimately caused Herman Cain to go back to his family, rather than continue with the campaign. I think this is America’s loss.
In the spirit of 999, which is purely a taxation bill but with major positive jobs consequences, I developed a comprehensive Jobs and economic recovery plan that I call RRR. This book is about that plan, which I announced at the Barney Inn on October 21, 2011.
Before we get into the details of the RRR plan let me say that the speeches of October 18 were very similar to the October 21 speech at the Barney. However, at the Barney, my delivery was more relaxed in front of the home town crowd.
I checked out the speeches from Harrisburg and Philadelphia to determine which mix would be best. Though much of the substance was the same, I did reach back to realize that I was in Wilkes-Barre and in Pennsylvania and I had a lot more to say at the Barney about the local venue. The folks related well to the local references in this speech.
I look forward to being out there again in the near future to make my message, the RRR plan, well known in Pennsylvania. Soon, I will be challenging Senator Casey to a debate and that ought to be fun.
By the way, one of my best high school friends, Eugene Aloysius Michael Burke, attended the Barney Event. He had seen the plan for the press conference at the Barney Inn in the Times Leader of Wilkes-Barre, and he decided to show up. When he pranced in, I did not immediately recognize Gene. But, he is unmistakably a Burke, and once I got past the new beard, this guy was a dead ringer for my good friend Gene Burke, and to my delight, he is a conservative.
The first time I mentioned the RRR Jobs Plan for America, was that afternoon at the Barney Inn, Wilkes-Barre on October 21, 2011.
The RRR plan is a way of bringing all of my thinking together in a way that can be remembered easily by all Pennsylvanians. After I had concluded my Barney Inn Speech with the Pledge of Allegiance, including that 60+ year old phrase, “under God,” and I waited patiently for the applause of my friends and relatives (they had no choice) to cease, there was a round of questions from the press.
The three R"s traditionally have been about education and how important it is to learn Reading, Writing, and Arithmetic when you are young. But, my three R's are not about education. The three R’s are a unique economic and jobs plan for America.
RRR is a simple to understand yet comprehensive solution that can very quickly change the economic and jobs picture into results that include Americans of all ages having the opportunity to go to work again. The three main Rs in this plan are
- Reduce taxes
- Reduce immigration
- Reduce regulations.
There are three other sets of 3 Rs that round out the RRR plan and make it very comprehensive compared to anything else that is circulating. Besides, with all these R’s, you can bet this plan will work:
Set 2
- Reduce Spending
- Repeal Obamacare
- Reindustrialize America
Set 3
- Reduce Offshoring
- Raise Tariffs
- Revitalize Energy
Set 4
- Reduce Redistribution
- Reduce Lying
- Reduce Government & Remember Mistakes
The plan is easy to remember, and it will be easy to implement if Congress has the political will to abandon lobbyist and other special interest demands and it chooses to address the needs of American citizens. The RRR plan is all we need to make America successful again.
There are those who suggest that an approach such as the RRR plan will take a long while to be effective as the impetus for tariffs and taxes to cause a change in corporate behavior will not come overnight. These are the same people, and Pennsylvania Senator Bob Casey Jr. is among them, who thirty years ago said it is no use drilling more in the US to solve the short-term energy problem because it would take more than ten years to begin seeing results.
We had three times ten years to do the right thing on energy and we did not because it would take too long. Yet, if we had addressed the problem thirty years ago, we would not have it today.
The RRR plan is structured to show positive results immediately and continue to get better until it is all implemented. That ten year figure seems to be back however, by the naysayers.
It is a pretty safe bet for politicians and former politicians to project negative certainty for any good to happen over the next ten years, no matter what the issue. For example, former Secretary of Labor for President Bill Clinton, Robert Reich offered recently that unemployment in the U.S. will most likely remain high for the next 10 years.
He backed it with some statistics saying that if the current rate of job growth (averaging 90,000 new jobs per month over the last six months), is sustained, then unemployment will remain constant with 14 million Americans permanently unemployed. In this case the high unemployment would continue well past ten years.
Reich then used his Economist hat to opine that if we are to get back to a normal rate of 200,000 new jobs per month, unemployment will stay high for at least 10 years before it eventually corrects itself. Reich ought to know. He is a smart man. He is a one-time labor secretary and an economist and now, he is a professor of public policy at the University of California at Berkeley.
Does that mean we should take action now—implement the RRR plan—so that we affect the number of jobs added per month and shorten the recovery? Or, does it mean that we should sit back like with oil so that ten years from now we can say again that it will take at least ten years for any action to create a positive change? Obviously, my recommendation is that the more prudent approach is to adopt RRR immediately if not sooner; and watch things get better sooner than we would ever think.
Before we move on to the chapters that fully explain the components of the RRR plan, and we flesh out a few more sets of Rs that will also help jobs, let’s take a time out so you can see the speech I delivered at 3:00 PM on October 21, 2011,at Fish’s Barney Inn in Wilkes-Barre, PA.
Feel free to read any of the other speeches under the title Press Kit on the main page of www.kellyforussenate.com. I will keep the page open for awhile after the election even if I win.
Chapter 1 Appendix I
Fisher’s Barney Inn Speech Oct 21, 2011
Good afternoon—my name is Brian Kelly.
On Tuesday Morning, I was at Independence Hall in Philadelphia where I received the endorsement of the Independence Hall Tea Party. I am a TEA Party member and I love what the TEA Party does for regular Americans like you and I.
There is little doubt that these are tough times.
Nobody really knows how many dips there will be in this recession
But we do know that without controls on spending, our wild deficit and debt will keep us in recession for years to come.
America needs to become like we were before the progressives—Barack Obama, Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi, and of course Pennsylvania’s own Bob Casey Jr. took power from the people.
In this light, I have outlined eight major principles that I will use as a guide in helping our country recover and prosper: These are.
1. Americans First,
2. Fiscal Conservative
3. Pro Life
4. Restructure Tax system
5. Smaller Government
6. Transparency
7. Pro Israel,
8. Strong Defense
Today, in 2011, JFK, my favorite Democrat, would be considered a conservative!
My views on taxation are very similar to JFK’s
His were modeled after those of Andrew Mellon from the 1920’s recession.
Both Mellon and JFK knew how to end a recession and so do I.
You all know how Bob Casey and his best friend Barack Obama want to raise everybody’s taxes. Kennedy would not approve.
Here’s what Kennedy had to say. He offered similar thoughts many times:
"In short, it is a paradoxical truth that ... the soundest way to raise the revenues in the long run is to cut the rates now… And the reason is that only full employment can balance the budget, and tax reduction can pave the way to that employment. The purpose of cutting taxes now is not to incur a budget deficit, but to achieve the more prosperous, expanding economy which can bring a budget surplus."
--- JFK, Nov. 20, 1962, news conference. BTW, that was right after the Cuban Missile Crisis. Kennedy was already on to domestic issues.
If we Democrats had listened to Kennedy, our current recession would be over
By cutting taxes up and down the line and reducing spending, JFK was looking for a big revenue surplus – not a deficit.
By increasing spending and increasing taxes Obama has been creating huge deficits and increasing debt and preparing America for bankruptcy.
Obama is far trickier than even Tricky Dicky Nixon. He's got a new name for this trick now that he is trying to get reelected again. He calls it a Jobs bill. I call it tax and spend.
What does the so called jobs bill have in it?
It’s the same porkulus / stimulus stuff with lipstick
--increased spending, increased taxes, larger deficits and crippling debt.
Even the Beatles would call out Obama and Casey on this. Remember this tune?-à“No, No, No, Not a Second Time…”
Obama and Casey used a trillion dollars of stimulus for crony capitalism for their big campaign donors. Americans have smartened up. No more taxpayer money for reelection campaigns.
Senator Bob Casey has been with Obama 98% of the time. That means he has been with Pennsylvanians only 2% of the time. By the way, that Beatles song applies to Casey also—No, No, No, Not a Second Time—
I love the United States of America just as it was founded in 1776.
In those days, Independence Hall, where I was on Tuesday, meant independence for all---
Much revolutionary blood was spilled for our freedom and liberty, and yet, freedom and liberty are at stake again today.
Nobody wanted then or now to be tethered to a corrupt, cowardly, and oppressive federal government in Washington D.C. So let us all tell the Federal Government:
Get off our backs!
It’s time to bring all the power we gave away to the feds back to the states – back to the people!
Yes, I love America and I have no problem with citizens of any other country loving their countries more than they love America.
But if you can’t come legally, we don’t want you here! Stay home!
As an American, I am interested in what is good for Americans first, not foreigners first
If I go to your country, I expect your citizens to be #1 priority. I won’t take any of your precious jobs, and I will bring a passport.
I want you to treat me and my country the same.
Americans have nobody to apologize to. Nothing to apologize for. And we are not going to apologize for being Americans.
We are proud to be Americans.
Not all TEA Party members are Republicans. Like me, not all Democrats are hard core progressives.
How would you like to be us?
We woke up one day and found that our Party had been hijacked by a group of people who hate America. You know who they are.
Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi and Barack Obama, and yes, Bob Casey Jr. Now, there’s a crew who show every day; they don’t care at all for Americans.
What about my primary opponent, the Unknown Senator Bob Casey? I have watched him closely during the Obama presidency.
If you like Barack Obama and his progressive policies, you are “gonna” love Bob Casey.
Here we are in Wilkes-Barre at the Barney Inn, a wonderful place run by Joe Fisher and Joe Predo, where more blarney has surely been spilled than Youngling Lager.
Don’t you just love it in America! And! How about that Yuengling Lager; brewed in Pottsville Pennsylvania. My dad worked for Stegmaier Brewery for 31 years, and we know the Lion Brewery carries on the tradition of good brew right here in Wilkes-Barre. But we all have to earn our brew.
There are a lot of problems that need to be solved
Like you, I am fed up with the bloated, unresponsive bureaucracy in Washington.
When, with your grace I take a seat in the Senate of the United States, the Washington progressives will get the message.
The days of big government, big regulations, big giveaways, big healthcare takeovers, big healthcare redistribution and big wealth redistribution are over.
Yes, I sure am for helpless people but I am not for making people helpless.
By the way, progressives are the guys that don’t like any of us and they probably don’t even like Yuengling Lager or Stegmaier Gold Medal Beer.
Don’t you think that in America, Americans should come first?
As most Pennsylvanians I too believe in the American Dream.
Quite frankly, I think Pennsylvanians are sick of the progressive’s notion that the new American Dream is … a handout.
With America in the shape that it is, I feel sometimes like I want to scream at the top of my lungs. But because you are all my friends, I won’t scream. Nonetheless,
- It is OK to love liberty and freedom.
- It is OK to love God.
- It is OK to love America.”
To help restore a limited government and put the people back in charge, today, I offer my candidacy as United States Senator from my state, the great state of Pennsylvania.
I promise to speak out of one side of my mouth and I pledge to represent the people of Pennsylvania honestly and truthfully. My word is my bond.
It is time to heal America and again make her strong.
I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation, under God, with liberty and justice for all.
I wish you all the best. God bless America.
*** End of Barney Inn Speech ***
Chapter 1 Appendix II
Eight Guiding Principles – the Detail
The detailed raw ideas for the eight guiding principles are included as a second chapter appendix. When I delivered the speech I did not expand the principles.
- Americans First– American Jobs, border security, fence, states’ rights, shut down excessive legal and all illegal immigration, BTW, over 2.2 million legal aliens get jobs each year in the US? Let’s reduce it to .2 (point 2) Reward businesses that hire Americans. No tax breaks for companies that choose to offshore jobs. Huge unemployment tax on companies found using illegal labor. Import tax on Chinese goods and goods produced overseas by any American corporation. Just watch the jobs come back. Since Americans corporations take American jobs overseas, invite overseas businesses to set up plants in America, and give Americans those jobs in America. Oh, and it is OK when if foreign companies manufacturing in America take the business from so-called American corporations. Let’s support corporations that love America and who give Americans Jobs. Let the others sell their stuff overseas.
- Fiscal Conservative--- no bailouts, no takeovers, no porkulus, no government takeover of business. Need balanced budget amendment, reinstitute Glass Steagall, repeal CRA, repeal Dodd / Frank, repeal Obamacare.
- Pro-Life– Human life begins at conception
- Restructure tax system– Reduce taxes to stimulate the economy and spending. Us the John Kennedy style and migrate to the FAIR Tax. The 9, 9, 9 is also a good plan. Reduce or eliminate corporate tax. Introduce tariffs to reindustrialize the US. Offshoring companies get no corporate breaks. Companies that hire illegals get no tax breaks
- Smaller Government– Ron Paul says government agencies are unconstitutional. He’s right. Eliminate harmful, costly agencies such as the EPA, FDA, USDA, Interior, Energy, Education, etc. Repeal Obamacare.
- Transparency / accountability – openness, No closed doors. Fire all czars.
- Pro Israel– Israel is our only friend in the Middle East.
- Strong Defense—“Speak softly and carry a big stick,” Don’t go starting wars. Win all wars in which we engage. Use big drones and micro-drones and few foot soldiers. We have 8000 drones & $5 Billion in budget – use ‘em. not American blood. Exit strategy -- get out quickly with a win. Send in the drone dragonflies. It will seem like one of the 10 plagues.