Brookville Democrat profile
Local's run for Senate Biblical in nature
Brookville is known for the four Indiana governors who once called the town between the rivers home.
Al Barger may be the first Franklin County resident to make a run for U.S. Senator.
He is listed on the Libertarian ticket, trying to unseat Democratic incumbent Evan Bayh. Bayh is a second-generation U.S. Senator from Indiana as his father, Birch Bayh, was a long-time senator.
Barger said he wants to cut taxes to the hilt and not replace them with anything. Instead, he calls for severely cutting back on the federal government's role.
"The federal government should be limited to doing only things specifically authorized to do by the Constitution," Barger said. "The federal government's one main job is national defense. That is to stop people from coming in and killing us."
According to Barger, the other power are enforcing the copyright law and making money.
"Two-thirds of what the federal government does is completely illegal," Barger said. "It has no Constitutional authority to be involved in education or retirement accounts."
Social Security would be No. 1 on Barger's hit list if he is elected.
"The federal government takes about 15 percent of your money in Social Security taxes, and they're squandering it" Barger said. "Take a look at how much you paid, wad it up and flush down the toilet. Any private company has investments like this would be put in a hoosekow.
"We put executives from Tyco and Enron in jail for squandering $1 billion," he continued. "Then Evan Bayh and most of Congress should be in with them because they have squandered tens of thousands of billions of dollars."
Barger said Congress is using the Social Security surplus for other things besides Social Security. Soon the Baby Boomers will be retiring and the money coming in will be less than the money going out.
"Get ready for a train wreck," Barger said. "There's not been one peep from him about trying to fix this."
Barger understands his chances against one of the state's most popular senators in the history of the state is next to nil. Many believe Bayh is a future presidential candidate.
Then there is the little fact about money. Bayh counts his campaign funds in millions. Barger's is a little less than that.
"I think I have $50 in the bank," Barger said. "My total expense for the whole campaign is about $700 as compared to the $7 million Bayh has in the bank.
"I'd rather be a David than a Goliath," Barger said. "It's pretty unlikely that I could actually beat Evan Bayh and be the next senator. Jesus of Nazareth couldn't cause Evan Bayh to lose unless He called down 10,000 angels."
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