LIBERTY — State Sen. Shane Massey wants to rein in careless government spending at the federal level.

That’s why the Edgefield senator is seeking the U.S. House Seat currently held by Rep. Gresham Barrett.

Massey spoke at a Pickens County Republican Party meeting Thursday.

“I’m a limited government guy,” he said. “Most of the good ideas I’ve heard, they didn’t come from Columbia, they come from the people I’ve talked to back home.”

Massey said he’s not a member of the “good old boy” system.

“We’ve been doing the same things in this state over and over for years, and we keep getting the same results,” he said.

Once elected, Massey said he moved to limit the earmarks that were resulting in excessive spending on politicians’ pet projects.

“I tried with my first bill to try to get some reform on the earmark process,” he said. “My first year, I didn’t get a whole lot of love. We pushed and we pushed, but some of the old guard didn’t like it very much. ”

Massey praised Sen. Larry Martin (R-Pickens) for getting involved.

“He pushed it and he pushed it and we actually got the thing passed in the Senate this past session,” Massey said. “I think it’s going to have a real good impact, as long as we can get it out of the House.”

He was also involved in achieving roll call votes for the Senate, Massey said.

Previously, votes were achieved by voice vote, he said.

“So if you wanted to see how your senator voted, there was no way,” Massey said. “Nothing was ever recorded. This past year we were successful in changing the rules. Now, if we’re going to be spending money, there’s going to be a roll call vote.”

Massey spoke at a Pickens County Republican Party meeting Thursday.

DUI reform is another of Massey’s priorities in the Senate.

“We’ve had some of the weakest DUI laws in the country,” he said.

Massey said the state of the country earlier this year is what made him to decide to run for the U.S. House.

“What I saw at that point was a United States government that was taking over and running United States businesses,” Massey said. “I never thought I would see that.”

Massey said cap and trade legislation will have a significant, negative impact on energy in the nation and on South Carolina.

“What they’re trying to do is reduce the use of fossil fuels,” Massey said. “But the average South Carolinian is a co-op customer. Co-op power comes from Santee Cooper. Santee Cooper is coal-fired.

“If cap and trade passes, all of us co-op customers are going to see increases of about four times on our monthly power bills,” he said.

Massey believes that a public option for healthcare would “run out” private insurance companies.

“They’re going to use federal money, federal control, they’re going to run everything,” he said. “The stakes are too high right now to sit on the sidelines.”

During the Q and A following his speech, Massey said he opposed the federal government withholding state highway funding in order to force states into enacting federal mandates.

“It’s all about control,” he said. “They’re just trying to take over state government.”

For more information on Massey, visit www.shane2010.com.