Phil Roe, the Republican Party's First Congressional District candidate, told a local gathering of Republican supporters Monday evening he was "not happy at all" with the recent $700 billion bailout of Wall Street firms passed by the U.S. Congress.

"I'm a small business person, and no one's going to bail me out if I fail," Roe told about 55 people gathered for a meeting of the Greene County Republican Party.

He made it clear he did not expect the government to bail out him or other small business entrepreneurs.

Roe, a retired obstetrician, began his wide-ranging speech with his personal narrative, saying he grew up on a small farm in middle Tennessee, spending the first six years of his life in a home that didn't have indoor plumbing.

He said his personal philosophy -- which he confessed to his chagrin that "sometimes I don't follow" -- was first to concentrate on his Christian faith, followed by his family, then profession.

He said he attended a small Methodist Church as a young man and still vividly remembers the day when he was baptized in a creek at the age of 12.

On Monday evening Roe also made a promise, which he admitted politicians are usually averse to making.

"I will never, ever vote for an unfunded local government mandate," Roe said.

He explained that as mayor of Johnson City, he had experienced all too often the financial hardship of having to come up with funds locally to meet new guidelines, or legislation, passed in Washington, D.C. that are not funded by the U.S. Congress.

"I refuse to vote a mandate on local people," Roe said.

He also said he was eagerly reading former U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Newt Gingrich's recently-released book, "Drill Here, Drill Now, Pay Less," which advocates increased exploration and production of domestic oil reserves.

Said Roe, "T. Boone Pickens (a billionaire businessman) has it right. Forty-one percent of our budget deficit is going overseas to buy energy."

He also said he was for energy conservation, and touted his successful plan to heat and cool the Veterans Administration complex in Mountain City exclusively with methane gas pumped from Johnson City's landfill site.

He also said he was against abortion, for the right of citizens to own guns, marriage between one man and one woman and for a balanced budget.

Of the latter, he said when he first took office in Johnson City six years ago, "We were broke." The city had $2 million in the bank, but since then, thanks to his leadership, has increased its surplus to $24 million, according to the candidate.

That has meant the City of Johnson City "no longer needs to buy bond insurance," and it has a lower bond interest rate, resulting in "millions of dollars" in interest savings over the life of a municipal bond, according to Roe.

He said the bond savings are a result "of our (local government leaders') conservative fiscal management and fund balance ... from a municipal point of view, that's a phenomenal achievement."

On a national level, Roe said, "with this financial crisis, I don't know the answer. I don't think anyone does. But this liquidity problem is serious."

Nonetheless, he criticized the words and actions of U.S. House Financial Services Committee Chairman Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass.

"If Barney Frank isn't a poster child for term limits, I don't know who is," Roe said. He also said he didn't have much more of a favorable opinion of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

"The federal government is talking about an (annual) $450 billion deficit," Roe said. He added, "I remember when the budget of the whole federal government was $100 billion."

He also said he supports Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain's call for a freeze on the federal budget, with a goal to balance it in four years.

"The federal government seems to have no limit in how much they spend," Roe said.

Roe also said, "John McCain is a true American hero. (Sen. Barack) Obama criticized McCain because he didn't know how to use a computer. Well, Obama can't land a plane on an aircraft carrier at night. I don't want a man as president who won't salute the flag."

Roe also asked those present to pray for him, his wife Pam, McCain, vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin "and all the candidates."