Republican First District Congressional Candidate Jon Scott kicked of his Work-a-Day campaign this past Friday at the Spike’s on Thayer Street in Providence…

Jon Scott has invited his opponent, Congressman Patrick Kennedy, to join him as he works one day with various businesses around the First District in the weeks leading up to the November 4th election. He issued the invitation, along with a challenge for a series of four debates via email to Kennedy’s new Press Secretary earlier today.
Scott will make a brief statement to the press, will answer questions and then serve customers at Spike’s Thayer Street Providence location until 5pm. In coming weeks he plans on doing work days with a small construction company and an independent lobsterman, as well as other (as yet unscheduled) jobs. Kennedy, who once boasted that he had “never worked a day in (his) life”, has been invited by Scott to join him on these work days.
“We’re kicking this off at Spike’s because they’re not going to be in business after Sunday”, the candidate continued. “Spike’s is an iconic establishment with dedicated owners who put their hearts and souls into building something for themselves. The rising cost of rents and supplies and some missed signals on a possible contract have taken their toll, and now the Ocean State is losing a fixture. I wanted to start our Work-a-Day

Anchor Rising took the opportunity to ask Mr. Scott at his public appearance for his thoughts on the big bailout speeding its way through Congress. Because the bailout deal was still very much in flux on Friday, I asked Mr. Scott a general question, appropriate to the particular venue…
Anchor Rising: I hope you don’t think it’s too much of a softball if I ask you if you think that the owners here at Spike’s are as deserving of help as much as the people who the government wants to hand $700 billion to in the next couple of days.
Jon Scott: I think they’re more deserving, because of the hot dogs!
The owners here put their heart and soul into the business. The difference is that they they never expected to be bailed out. Garreth and Dana are going out of business, but when they got into business, they knew what the rules were.
Their rents have gone up and their costs have gone up. The part they really didn’t expect was ethanol subsides to corn farmers that caused prices to go up.
They didn’t expect the government to interfere in their business. They didn’t expect their taxes to go through the roof. They didn’t expect all those other things that come along with government interference. All of that bad side is what’s caused what we have going on right now. This crisis is one that’s caused by Congress, and it’s one that could be fixed by Congress, but the fix isn’t to nationalize more private wealth than at anytime in the history of the United States.
More from RI’s Congressional candidates on the big bailout to follow…