Shelby said President Barack Obama made a “bonehead decision” in discontinuing the Keystone Pipe Line, which would create an oil line from Canada to Texas. The pipeline would involve a $7 billion investment and 20,000 immediate jobs, Shelby said.

“We need to build that,” he said. “If we get the presidency and the Senate, we’ll build it faster.”

Shelby said the media reports the unemployment rate at about 8.3 percent, while the “real number” is about 15 percent.

“The media wants people to think the administration is doing better than we are,” Shelby said. “They want you to think the economy is doing so much better, but it’s not. It’s rocking along.”

Fifty percent of U.S. residents do not pay income taxes, Shelby said.

“I’ve advocated for years the flat rate tax,” Shelby said. “The bigger government gets, the less chance you have in the private sector. A government that’s big enough to do things for you is big enough to take it away.”

As Shelby concluded, he told his audience to “make up your own mind” when it comes to media content.

“I’m going to stay constant on what built America,” he said. “If we keep regulating our economy, we’re never going to grow out of this mess.”