massive pressure because of what's happening in europe, i'm afraid that the sensible steps taken to collect better data and provide for better analysis are not enough. you need to supplement that with many other measures including the volcker rule. >> yes, mr. perlmutter. >> thanks, mr. chair. in keeping with the theme dealing with england, i'd like to offer and place into the record an an excerpt from a chapter of the future of banking. >> okay, without objection. ..

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[inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] >> c-span's road to the white house coverage shows events leading up to saturday's south carolina primary. >> the obama administration came down with a policy that said in her program she cannot teach abstinence as a preferable way of avoiding out of wedlock birth. and she can't talk about marriage. she can't talk about marriage has any other than an alternative lifestyle no better or worse than any other life

style. my question is why? >> when the president adopts a stimulus package of hundreds of billions of dollars that nobody has read, and then discovers to his great surprise years later as he himself put it that shovel ready jobs were not shuffle ready and the stimulus release a hundred billion dollars of debt, at some point he has to take responsibility. that was his plan, his proposal. >> as candidates meet with voters to get their message out. >> absolutely. i do. [inaudible conversations] >> we will show you the results from south carolina with candidates beaches and your phone calls. >> we are live in charleston, south carolina, that state

holding its presidential primary saturday. that would be tomorrow. southern republican leadership conference meeting in charleston, south carolina this week. that is the event we are looking at. candidates will address the group. newt gingrich and ron paul. we will have coverage right here on c-span2 as we wait for this event to get underway shortly. ♪ ♪

♪ [inaudible conversations] >> we are waiting for this event to get underway. we will stay in south carolina later today to hear from mitt romney at a campaign rally at the charleston convention center across town from where we are looking now at the arena in the college of charleston. campaign rally with mitt romney getting underway at 3:45 p.m. eastern. we will have live coverage on our companion network c-span. [inaudible conversations]

>> did you promote this at all? >> i don't know. >> did you realize -- >> this is srlc event. [inaudible conversations] >> organizers on the campaign trail? [inaudible conversations] >> i would say based on the advancements we have on the ground -- [inaudible conversations] >> go to children's hospital. >> you got to go.

♪ >> we are doing a town hall, two facilities. [inaudible conversations] >> inside the shopping mall. people in orangeburg at 2:30. ♪ [inaudible conversations]

[inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] >> no better.

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[inaudible conversations] >> as you can see we are waiting for this event to get underway in charleston, south carolina. southern republican leadership conference meeting today scheduled to speak newt gingrich and ron paul. we are sold the image we are told newt gingrich may or may not attend this event. as we wait for things to get started we will show you a portion from yesterday with former senator rick santorum. his remarks in front of the conference. ♪ >> thank you very much. thanks for that warm welcome. thanks for that kind introduction. it is great to be here in charleston. looking forward to a fun night

tonight at the debate. i am herewith a few friends on the stage. no offense to the cadets of mind. my wife karen is with me and the mother of our seven children. we have a wonderful time here. we spent the last two weeks here. we had a wonderful time as we always do. we come down here a lot. we have been vacationing here for 20 years. charleston is a home for us. we had an opportunity to last couple years to spend time in the great institution in this city of charleston and that is the citadel. i want to thank the citadel cadets for joining us on stage. thank you. i will be with them tomorrow night at the citizen republican club dinner. thank you all for being here. thank you for the great work you are doing for the republican party. this is the most important

election in our country's history and i believe this is an election about fundamentals. the fundamental freedoms we have. we have a president who has a different view of what makes america great and what america is. not just what makes a great but what america is. from our founding principles america has been a country that believes in limited government, god-given right and people to pursue god's will for them in their life. to be able to work and reap the fruits of their labor, be able to provide for themselves and their family and their community and their country. that is the greatness and uniqueness of this country. a free country based on rights given to every individual and government's job was to limit those -- to protect those rights. limited to protect those rights. president obama doesn't see the world that way. doesn't see america that we. he sees america as on its road to be like every other country

which is bigger and top down. our founders left those countries to come to america to establish something different. barack obama wants to return us to what we came from. that is why this election is the most important one and why people in south carolina have a huge role to play in that process. they have the opportunity to speak loudly about what candidate they want to carry forward that mentioned. -- message. the background to back up that vision. someone who can win the states that are necessary for us to win to relate to the voters that are important for us to relate to not just by their policies but also by their record and their history. we are going to win or lose this election based on ten states and those ten states and the ten states where a group of folks called reagan democrats made all the difference not just for

ronald reagan but republican candidate for president over the last 30 years. ladies and gentlemen, come from one of those states. i come from a background and a town where there were lots of reagan democrats. people asked me how i won a 60% democratic district when i was running against a 14 year incumbent and asks me how i won elections when i was redistricted in a 70% democratic district and alan won against the democratic incumbent when i ran for united states senate in a state with over half a million more registered democrats than republicans and won reelection in a year when george bush lost the state by 5 in 2000 and i won by 6. the only conservative to win in the state george bush won, how did you do that? by going out and talking about the values that make this country great. the value of hard work. i grew up in a steel town. the grandson of a coal miner. talk about the value of hard work and the value of giving

every single american, believing in them and giving them the opportunity to rise in society. it has always been about opportunity for me. that is what my grandfather taught me. if you work hard and you do your best, america will richly reward you. a lot of people are questioning whether that is true. a lot of people are feeling left behind who are out there paddling alone thinking no politicians care about them. democrats over there saying we will take care of you. ladies and gentlemen, people of america don't want to be taken care of. they want to -- [applause] -- they want someone who believes in them. someone who believes they can do things if we can set a playing field that allows for equal opportunity to rise. unfortunately republicans, we seem to be fixated on cutting

taxes and promote economic growth. i am all for that. we are fixated on making sure that top rate, a lot of folks are not paying the top rate and wondering how will you help me? you care about me? the answer is we better care about them because the heart and soul of america, come from that great area of the country. western pennsylvania blue steel town. the areas that barack obama says clings to their guns and bibles and sang god they do. [applause] i put forth an economic plan and put forth a plan not just for the economy but the family that will restore the institutions and the economy that is necessary. for those folks that are paddling alone to have the opportunity to get up river, to be able to succeed and provide

themselves and their family and rebuild a lot of the communities and small towns across america. the plan i put forward shows we have not only strong principal suppliers of economics but supply side economics for the work of men and women in the country. the people who have unemployment rate in double digits and the folks who feel left behind. we are going to win this election. better have someone who can relate to the problems across america, in the states that are necessary to win if we're going to win back the trust of the american people and win this presidency. we have an opportunity in this election to put someone out there on a values level is in sync with the people. that we need. that america needs to participate again in the enterprise that is america. and participate fully, have upward mobility and hope and

optimism. that is what we are looking for in a president lose someone who is hopeful and optimistic and has plans that give others hope and optimism that they too can be part of the revitalization of the american economy and their communities and their own family. [applause] that is why i talk about the family as the center of our society. the family is absolutely essentials if we are going to have elimination or alleviation of poverty and have opportunity. we got to have a government that nurtures and support families and focuses on how we can hold and bind them together and promote fatherhood and marriage. all of these things are critically important. of family break down the economy breaks down and people are isolated, try to do the job of two people in raising a family. so much harder.

we all know this. but republicans as well as democrats don't have policies other than the democrats giving folks money. that doesn't solve anything. it perpetuates dependency. for people who don't want to be dependent. they want opportunity. we bring that to the table better than anybody else in this race. we also bring a to z table something that is important. someone who can rally the base of our party. [applause] someone who is unapologetically a conviction conservative. on national security and moral culture on constitutional and economic and fiscal issues. i have no apology for the strong positions i have taken over the years and they have been consistent and i have led in that regard all the way around. we have very important issues in this race. we have a very important group

of people we have to keep energized and involved in the republican party called the tea party. [applause] if you look at the tea party and you look at the issues that got the tea party started in america, it started with wall street bailouts and the fuehrer that is going on about government reaching in and taking over a section of the economy and risking taxpayer dollars in bailing out people who elected not just immorally but unethically and illegally. it was typed up even further by the talk of obamacare and taking over the health-care system and cap and trade and a takeover of the energy sector and manufacturing sector and controlling every aspect of our lives and the environment. that is how the tea party got going. put the energy in the 2010 race. that's just be honest. the two candidates i am

competing for in south carolina to win, both of them supported individual mandates -- obamacare plan similar plans in massachusetts. it has taken that major issue off the table. both of them supported global warming and one of them sat on a couch with nancy pelosi to talk about how they need to do something. and a 3 issue, wall street bailout. both of them supported wall street bailout. how are we going to differentiate ourselves on the major issues of the day if we nominate tweedle dum and tweedle dee instead of someone who stood up and said no. [applause] south carolina can speak loudly. we want clear, bold contrast like they did in 1980. last time we were in an economic malaise or disrespect did around world and last time we knew we had a president that was over

his head. south carolina was told by the pundits of the media please, we just need to win. let's pick someone who's more moderate that can win. south carolina said no. we are going to pick the conviction conservative. we are going to pick someone who represents our values. someone who has got the energy and enthusiasm and vision to do what america needs to put america back on the right track. >> remarks from former senator rick santorum yesterday. live now back to charleston, south carolina. southern republican leadership conference back underway. live coverage on c-span2. >> we thank you for having us all together here today in beautiful south carolina. today the opportunity to hear numerous speakers that we hope through you to inject the wisdom and honors that will not only make us proud but more

importantly you proud as well and we ask you to bless the men and women of our military and ask that you continue to look over them and keep them safe. theymen. please stand and join me with a pledge of allegiance. i pledge allegiance to the flag of the united states of america and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under god, indivisible with liberty and justice for all. thank you. ♪ >> i want to welcome you this morning. i am glad to see all of you here. i read one day a statement that i would like to share with you. it said someone ought to do

something. is not nearly as helpful and does not make things happen as much as the phrase i should do something. i am so glad that all of you out here have decided that our country is in a position where you can't sit at home any more. that you have to do something. i want to commend you for that decision. i was on talk radio for ten years in liana and one day after we had one of our heated discussions i looked at the guy across the desk from me and i said i am so furious about what is going on in this country are don't know what i am going to do about it. he was just as matt looked at me and said you know what i'm going to do? i'm going to go home from here and i'm going to become an independent instead of a republican. i looked at him and said you know what i am going to do? i quit. i can't sit on the sidelines and talk about what is going on in

america. i have to get out there and do something to change it. my daddy -- thank you. my daddy always told me if you know what your values are, your decisions become easy and if you want something done then get out there and do it yourself. so i commend you in not staying home but coming here to make a difference. i encourage you to stay involved and to continue to work with us to take back our country. i would like to introduce our first speaker this morning. we have the president of the college republicans from south carolina. would you join me in welcoming salary atwater. [applause] ♪ >> have a. my name is salary atwater and it is an honor to be here today.

i want to saying the court naders of the southern republican leadership conference for giving me this opportunity to speak on behalf of college republicans across the south and for about america. if you are from another state, welcome. i hope you enjoy your time in charleston. palmetto site is warned -- pleased to welcome like-minded conservatives. as the daughter of someone who loves south carolina, loves the american political process and was passionate about advancing the ideals of the republican party i am thrilled to speak with you today. in 2008 a candidate rose to presidency by promising the next generation, my generation, hope and change. it was a thrilling message for a lot of young people. enormous enthusiasm and many young people who had never before been involved in

politics. the promise of hope and change pointed a future that was better. better economy, better country, a better world. three years later better has not arrived. change did not come. better did not come. three years later, we now know that the promise of change was really a promise to double down on the same old same old. more big government, more bureaucracy, more spending. more americans are without jobs today and for logger periods of time that at any time in our history since the great depression. in 2011 more people depended on assistance from government programs than at any other time in american history. add to this our exploding national debt, record deficits and the coming wave of tax

increases that will kill jobs. this is a bleak future that young people are facing. it is not a rosy picture. it is not a hopeful picture. i am here to tell young people everywhere that hope is on its way. [applause] >> one of the beautiful things about america is every four years we have a presidential election. and we answer the question whether we want to make a course correction or not. in 2012, the decisive answer coming from the country is crystal clear. yes, we do. the challenge then becomes which candidate can deliver the better future we all want? young people especially to challenge deciding which candidate can shake the overall environment so we can spend the next 40 years of our lives

pursuing happiness in a society of opportunity and excellence, not a society of austerity and rationing. three years ago we were sold a vision of change. change did not come. it is a discouraging results. it can make young people think participation in the political process won't make a difference. i disagree. change is possible. that is why i joined the federation of college republicans during my freshman year. over the past three years i have been honored to serve as college republican chairman. south carolina college secretary and now the co-chairman of the south carolina college republican federation. it has been an amazing experience that has allowed me to meet fellow conservative students throughout the great state and across the nation. but i have to say i never would

have gotten started in college republicans if it hasn't been for my father, lee atwater. [applause] before ipads and twitter my dad was chairman of the south carolina republican federation. during his time as the college republican he helped revolutionize college republican experience. he left not only a legacy in south carolina but across the nation as are college republican. i did not get involved just because of who he was but because of what he stood for. and now that is what i stand for. i stand for change and i believe change is possible with newt gingrich. [applause] better if possible with newt gingrich. how do we know this? because newt change washington for the better.

in the house of representatives, what happened when he came to town? the first republican majority in the house of representatives in 40 years. lower taxes. controlled spending, welfare reform. eleven million jobs created by the american people during his speakership. a balanced budget. when newt talks about achieving similar objectives with his bold plan for jobs and growth we should appreciate that it is not a promise newt is offering. it is a track record. the change in washington won't be easy. it will take a leader who is tough enough and smart enough to change washington's so we can keep the america we love. in these circumstances, in these times i have no doubt a strong leader we need today is newt gingrich.

we need newt because we need jobs. week -- newt knows how to create jobs. and how to enact the right policies we need for job creation. we need newt because america has enemies and we need someone who is ready to be the commander-in-chief on day one and someone who is not afraid to defeat our enemies. finally and most importantly let us bring change to washington, real change. the type of real change that creates millions of new jobs and safeguards the american liberties. the type of real change that brings hope. thank you. [applause] ♪

>> our next speaker today has been a very busy man. i understand he was in court representing four different of our contenders for president trying to get them on the virginia about. i am glad he made tied to join us today. j. christian addams served for five years as attorney in the voting section in the united states department of justice. in that capacity he brought cases to protect a wide variety of racial minorities, including blacks, hispanics and the first-ever application of the voting rights act to protect white voters. a former general counsel to south carolina secretary of state, he is now a practicing attorney and contributing writer to pajamas media. will you join me in welcoming the j. christian adams? [applause]

>> good morning, everybody. it is wonderful to be back in charleston. one of the most enjoyable cities on the east coast. especially wonderful to be around so many people who love this country and are interested in making it a better place. i have the distinct pleasure of warming you up for ron paul. that doesn't take too much. indeed, i served in the justice department in the voting section where we enforced federal election laws and across the south i brought cases in texas, mississippi, alabama, florida, george and south carolina from 2005 to 2010. i am here to talk about what happened in 2009 after a the inauguration. i saw firsthand the radicals and i use that term deliberately,

the radicals who came to power along with eric holder and will be enforcing federal election law in this coming presidential election. in my book injustice, to give you an example, i have some photographs of the offices of many of these attorneys who will be representing the justice department to enforce federal election laws next year. now you would think they are good impartial people and will administer the law fairly unless you have been paying attention, and these photographs for examples show you hanging on the walls of the justice department attorney offices are obama campaign posters among the civil servants. i am here to tell you you cannot count on this next year when it comes to enforcement of federal election laws. one of the things that was not in my introduction you may remember the case are brought against the new black panther

party in philadelphia. the new black panthers, thank you, were standing in front of the polling place on the day president obama was elected. they were dressed in their paramilitary uniforms, and they were armed with a weapon. you may recall from that than they were trying to prevent people entering the polling place. i was working in washington that day and like you when i saw the video i was quite shocked. i thought one of the things that makes this country great and exceptional compared to other parts of the world and other nations in history is we don't normally have harmed suggs standing outside a polling place shouting racial slurs at voters. that is one of the unique things about this country. that is not supposed to happen in the united states of america. during the bush administration with only a few weeks left

before the inauguration we filed a voter intimidation case against the new black panther party. under the voting rights act of 1965. but when the new obama political appointees came to power at the justice department everything change. there was a very different attitude towards the new black panthers and we saw during the bush did ministration. here is the best part. the new black panther party never even answered the complaint that the bush justice department filed against them. it was a slam dunk case. nevertheless, the obama political appointees ordered the case against them to be dismissed. most of you already know this. what you might not know is that the civil rights commission initiated an investigation into the obama dismissal of the black panther case and they subpoenaed me and chris coats who actually

is here today somewhere, who was a voting section chief, about the dismissal to explain why the case was dismissed. but this justice department ordered us to ignore the subpoenas. the subpoenas were issued pursuant to a law that makes it a crime to interfere with a civil rights commission subpoena. so i did what i felt i had to do and resigned my job at the justice department and testified about why the case was dismissed. the answer to that is and i detail it in the book in great detail, there is a notorious and open hostility among obama political appointees to enforcing election laws against all wrongdoers. this was on open display inside the justice department. chris coats eventually, the voting section chief complied with his subpoena and said the same vein. here you have two doj attorneys

telling under oath that this justice department is unwilling to enforce federal election law in a race neutral fashion. that is something that should concern every single person that cares about free and fair elections. this justice department is stacked route to branch with people who are unwilling to enforce civil rights and election laws against all wrongdoers. they believe there was nothing wrong with what the new black panthers did on election day and our name their names in my book. imagine my surprise when i was researching the book in alabama and found photographs of senator obama in 2007 actually marching with one of the defendants in the new black panther case and i have the photograph in my book and i will have a few copies -- enough for everybody -- up here on the concourse after my

speech. this justice department has sided with lawlessness time and time again and abandoned law-abiding citizens. the black panther case would be the first time and not the last time this happened because eric holder is waging a war against election integrity and let me give you a few more examples that will matter this november. the radical doj lawyers i worked with blocked georgia's law that requires proof that only citizens are registered to vote. you heard that correctly. eric holder blocked the law in georgia that requires only citizens are registering to vote. the reason he did this is because they felt it was racially discriminatory against hispanics. that happened in 2009. this is the justice department at cs voter identification laws like they blocked in georgia or

south carolina as a threat to our republic. but also views convicted felons participating in elections as an essential part of democracy. they are making a concerted effort. listen carefully. a concerted effort using the justice department to encourage felons to get the right to vote back on the november elections. this is the justice department, orders battlefield captors in afghanistan that our read their miranda rights but when it comes to louisiana governor bobby jindal, here's some news i am going to break here, justice department is using clandestine investigators wearing the electronic wires to go into welfare offices throughout louisiana to see if louisiana is pushing welfare recipients to

get registered to vote before 2012. the voting section is putting people with electronic eavesdropping equipment into welfare offices throughout the country to see if the people urge welfare recipients to get registered to vote and if they don't they sue the state as they have done to rhode island and bobby general's administration. they are doing this because they're leveraging the law to get as many of their voters registered to vote ahead of the 2012 election. at the same time got -- obama political appointees were doing this they also told us to not enforce the law that requires the -- bad people removed from voter rolls. this meeting occurred in november of 2009. a part of motor voter requires states to clean up their voter rolls called section 8. they had a meeting in november of 2009 when a political

appointee named julie fernandez announced to me and the entire voting section that the obama administration would not enforce the law to clean up voter rolls because it, quote, did not have anything to do with increasing minority turnout. this means that many states in this election in 2012 will have more voters on the rolls than people all live. in places like ohio, new mexico, indiana, iowa and pennsylvania, there are counties with over 100% of eligible voters registered to vote and eric holder won't do anything about it. he spiked eight recommendations to clean up these voter rolls. let me close by noting this is pure lawlessness. this is lawlessness of a sort we have not seen from a justice department in a very long time.

make no mistake. these are not grandfather's democrats. we face an opponent like we have never faced. these are people who will leverage election laws and civil service to retain power. this is not a good face disagreement. these are not simply people who are incompetent. these are not simply people who are misguided. the the very deliberate, competent radicals who will use the law to their damage. whoever south carolina picks on saturday, it needs to be somebody who recognizes this and recognizes what is at stake and the nature of the opponent. they must understand these are not just democrats we face but radicals who are willing to pervert the law. i will have copies for all of you of my book if you care to see it. thank you for your time and

attention and most of all thank you for everything you are doing for the country. thank you very much. [applause] ♪ >> dr. paul is the next speaker and he is on route and about two minutes away so let's take a couple of minutes and i will be back with you to introduce our next speaker. thank you. [ ♪

♪ >> good morning, chattanooga. my name is chris hall. i am here from charleston. welcome. i am going to play a song as we wait for dr. paul to come. ♪ ♪ ♪

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♪ ♪ ♪ >> we are going to break away from south carolina for a couple

minutes as we are waiting for ron paul, the congressman, to make his remarks. we are told that should be fairly shortly. in the meantime from yesterday at the same event, former candidate herman cain. [applause] >> thank you. thank you very much. wonderful to see you here today. thank you for that very warm welcome. if we go back in our history, i will -- our founding fathers got it right. not once, but several times and in the preamble to the constitution it says we the people. we the people of the united

states of america. we the people of the united states of america in order to form a more perfect union, the union is in trouble. the union is in trouble because we have become a nation of crises. an economic crisis, energy crisis of the personal national security crisis, illegal immigration crisis. the union is in trouble. all we have to do is look at the facts. there's one thing i warn you about facts. liberals hate perfects. it drives them crazy. fact. our national debt is now bigger than our gross domestic product.

fact. the national debt increased 50% since president obama has been in office and now he is asking for another $1.2 trillion. fact. 1999, that happens to be the year 1-9-9-9, my first grandchild was born. my third grandchild was born in 1-9-9-9. when she was born the national debt for everyman, woman and child in the united states of america was $20,700. that is a fact.

at the beginning of 2012, new year's day, my fourth grandchild was born. was born with $48,800 in debt before he took his first breath. that is a fact. if president obama spends another $1.2 trillion every man, woman and child in this country will be looking at $53,000 per person in debt and it is still climbing. this economy is not in recovery despite what you are being told. you are not being told the truth about this economy. our gdp grew last year less than 2% for the whole year. they call that a recovery.

china had a bad year last year. they only grew at 8%. and we grew less than 2%. that is a fact. this economy is still on life support. the union is in trouble. .. >> to fund his nuclear aspirations. that's a fact.

it's also a fact that this administration is probably not going to do anything about it. fact: washington is broken! [applause] and america is broke! what part of broke don't they understand? >> amen! [applause] >> broke! in 1773 the colonists were so fed up with old king george that they showed their defiance by dumping tea in the boston harbor at the boston tea party. two years later we had the american revolution to begin.

eight years after that we won. the american revolution. as the old preacher would say, i stopped by here to tell l y'all today, we need another revolution! we need a solutions revolution! [cheers and applause] this time it won't be about bombs and bullets. we're not going to fight it with bottoms and bullets, we're going to fight this solutions revolution with brains and balance at the ballot box. that's how we're going to fight this revolution. [applause] and i have been asked repeatedly for the last several weeks and couple of months who am i going to endorse. and i've said consistently the

unconventional candidate that ran an unconventional campaign and achieved surprising results, gonna make an unconventional endorsement. people say, well, what does that mean? that means that many people in the media are not going to like it. [laughter] but the american people are going to love it. [applause] the people are gonna love it. [applause] here is my unconventional endorsement. not a candidate seeking the nomination, not someone that's not running. my unconventional endorsement is the people! we, the people of this nation, are still in charge -- >> we're going to break away from these remarks yesterday with mr. cain and take you back live, now, to charleston, south

carolina. right now mr.-- congressman ron paul making his way to the stage, our live coverage continuing on c-span2. [cheers and applause] >> thank you, thank you. thank you for coming out so early in the morning. [laughter] but i'm delighted to be here. i want today introduce my wife who's came in and sitting over here, my wife carol. [cheers and applause] she and i'll be celebrating our 55th anniversary within a week or so, february 1st. so -- [applause] delighted. [applause] but i appreciate the opportunity to come and visit with you. the campaign has certainly heated up. be the debates last night were very interesting and sometimes distracting, but overall i thought the debate went quite well, and people ask me quite frequently how'd the debate go, and i say, compared to what? it always could be better, and it could be worse as well. but, basically, over the years literally of being involved in

debates, debates have always been very helpful in promoting what i've been talking about on sound economic policy and changed foreign policy and especially an emphasis on monetary policy which was mention inside the introduction -- mentioned in the introduction. this, to me, has always been encouraging because we get so many new supporters once we present our case for what we need to do. generally speaking, my views are different in reality than the other candidates because although the rhetoric might not be extremely different, in reality it is different because so often we have candidates that will talk about some changes but, basically, still support the status quo. my position is that we have to do a lot more. the status quo today is too much ignoring the constitution. people ask me how did we get into this trouble, and what do

we have to do? i don't think that question's difficult to answer. we've gotten into this trouble because we've avoided following the constitution. it shouldn't be difficult to get out of trouble by just having only people in washington who obey the constitution. that's what i think we ought to do. [cheers and applause] but it's across the board, it's the general lack daysiccal attitude about following the constitution, but it also reflects an educational system that over many, many decades have taught generations of americans that the constitution is not to be a rigid document. you know, that's sort of like saying the bill of rights is not a rigid document, or the ten commandments are not a rigid set of rules. so since we got careless with this, the document doesn't mean a whole lot. so when it comes to monetary policy, the founders of this country were explicit about

protecting against inflation because they had suffered through the inflation of the continental dollar. so they put it in there that only gold and silver could be legal tender, and you couldn't print money. but look at where we are. we didn't change the constitution. so if events have changed and they think that central banking is just creating money out of thin air is a good, sound economic system to do it, the people of this country should have changed the constitution. if we as a people wanted the federal government to take over and control education, then the constitution should have changed because there is no authority for the l federal government to be running education, therefore, we don't need the department of education. [cheers and applause] and you can continue to go down the list. take, for instance, the executive branch of the government. have you ever noticed they write a lot of regulations?

actually, they shouldn't write any regulations. congress passes laws like they do with dealing with the environment and epa, and then they write regulations, and they go way off on tangents, and the congress never reins them in. but when you write a regulation, you're writing a law, and that's the executive branch doing what only the legislative branch is supposed to be doing. and we need to challenge this someday. we don't need the federal government -- the executive branch writing legislation, but we shouldn't be allowing the right legislation through executive orders or signing statements or following the laws written by the united nations. we need to adhere to the rules. [applause] so we've gotten careless in another area that i think is so important because it's led, it's contributed so much to our financial crisis in the ongoing activities overseas and the overseas spending. but the founders, one of the reasons we fought the revolution was the encroachment of the

military on the privacy of the colonists where the military would come into the homes and occupy the homes and tax the people for fighting wars. and they resented the fact that the king could take the people to war as well as tax the people to fight these wars. so it was explicit in the constitution that the president just can't get up and go to war. and we've lost that just about completely, and both parties have been derelict in this. we go to war now at the president's insistence. does he come to the congress especially in this, with this recent administration? has he come to the congress to get involved in libya and these various countries and now in syria and thinking about going on into iran? has he.com and get -- if we have to go to war, does he come and get a declaration of war? no, they just go and do it. i don't think that's right. i think we should declare war if we have to go to war.

[cheers and applause] this means we would go to war more rarely, and if we did go to war, we would win 'em instead of stagnating and being involved for ten years. [cheers and applause] but another insult, should be an insult at least to all american, is having our presidents go to war under a u.n. banner or nato and not even consult with the congress. we need to change that, obviously. [cheers and applause] a lot of times our debates will be designed to either talk about economic policy or social policy or foreign policy. obviously, last night it was, there's no emphasis on foreign ruly interested in economic be policy, you can't not talk about foreign policy. in the last ten years, our

foreign wars have contributed $4 trillion worth of debt, and that is money out of our economy. war, even when it's necessary, is always a drain on the economy. but war especially when they linger and you spend money, it's a real insult to the economy here at home. so this $4 trillion that was spent running up debt which had nothing to do with our national defense or national security, matter of fact, i believe it undermined our national security and defense by getting involved. [applause] but $4 trillion is a great burden, and the crisis that we're facing economically today is a debt crisis. they talk about what kind of programs that we're going to design to stimulate the economy and take care of the unemployed, but very rarely are they addressing the subject in a serious manner about the real problem.

and that is debt. the debt burden. because all our productivity now can barely pay to finance our debt. if you think of all that we owe, we owe the $16 trillion and just think this week the national debt was raised by $1.2 trillion, and it was done by the president and the congress feebly tries to prevent that from happening, but it still happens because it's on autopilot now. and our country isn't even productive enough to finance the debt. but how do we get away with it? well, we still live with this fiction that the world will forever trust us to print the right amount of dollars, that the dollar will always maintain value and that we can print our way out and finance all the debt. but already we are suffering severely from that even though it is still being propped up, and people are still taking our dollars. but since 1971 when we lost the last link to gold, our dollar has lost 85% of its value.

so if you happen to be an old-fashioned person and you think that i don't want to speculate in the stock markets, savings, saving money and being frugal was actually at one time thought to be a good thing. so if a person followed that and wanted to play it safe and had a cd, they can't even keep up with the depreciation of their money. what if they wanted to start saving in 1971 and now they want to retire? well, they've lost depending on how much money they put in each year. but theoretically, if you put all your money away in 1971 and you put $100,000 away, you'd have $15,000 of purchasing power. so the system we have is very, very destructive to the very positive things that we need in the economy. our problem, basically, is that we don't follow the rules of the marketplace. capital, true capital comes from savings. but we don't save, and we substitute savings with a printing press run by the federal reserve. they just create money out of thin air, and as long --

[cheers and applause] as long as people accept the dollar, we're going to continue to do that. but we're going to accept them a lot less. the problems we face economically are international. we're getting away with still exporting our dollars, that's our biggest export, and we get goods and services at a cheaper rate. but eventually the world will reject the paper money because you can't -- our credit has been downgraded, france's credit has been downgraded, europeans -- europe's in a mess, the french, the spanish are this a mess, the greeks are in a mess, and everybody, all they're doing is scurrying around every single day like today there's another plan how are we going to take care of the greek debt? well, when the debt gets this big, there's only one way you resolve it and get back to growth again, the debt has to be liquidated. but what they do is the debt that is sovereign nations and

the big banks run up, they take the debt, and they transfer it to us. the people have to end up owning this debt. this is why wall street still thrives. they get the bailouts, the people who made the money when the bubble was forming. the middle class is shrinking, productivity is shrinking, people are losing their jobs and they're losing their houses. so we have to change that whole attitude. debt has to be liquidated, and a malinvestment has to be removed. but for four years now we've been propping it up, and that's why we're not having true economic growth again. so -- ms. . [applause] but there's nothing, there's nothing we can do in politics, even a president, to promote these views. the people have to understand a very important issue; what should the role of government be. and this is what the founders fought the revolution about. they decided the role of the king was wrong, they had a revolution, they wrote a document, and the role of the federal government was designed to protect our liberties.

no more complicated than that. it's the purpose of a federal government to provide for a strong national defense and protect our liberties. that is what we're supposed to do. [cheers and applause] today, today that has evolved, and john adams warned if it ever evolves from a republic to a pure democracy, eventually society would murder itself. so in many ways we're murdering ourselves by our spending and our extension of our troops around the world s and now we -- world, and now we still accept this notion which has to be challenged. entitlements are not right. you have a right to your life and your liberty and your property, but not entitle -- [cheers and applause] nobody, nobody's entitled to somebody else's effort. so as long as that exists, you know, a token change in washington won't make the

difference. the government we have in washington is a reflection of the people's attitude. but the good news is the people's attitude is now changing significantly. [cheers and applause] even those who are on the receiving end of the entitlement system are very frightened because they know that the treasury is bare, and the people who have been paying the bills, they're sick and tired of paying the the bills. and this is why we're going to have change. [applause] and the people are starting to send this message. i am very encouraged especially when i travel around the country and talk to the next generation. they know what's coming, they know what is necessary, they know what a proper national defense policy is and a foreign policy, they know what a proper monetary policy is, they know that the president, nor the congress is supposed to run the economy. the people are supposed to run the economy, and the government's supposed to get out

of the way. [cheers and applause] and this freedom movement has also gained the support of those who know that government rules and laws cannot mold personal behavior. and economic liberty and personal liberty is one and the same. and that is what we have to protect. that's the responsibility of the federal government, and i'll tell you what, i'm very optimistic on the long run. on the short run, we still have a lot of work to do, and there will be a significant event coming up soon, i think it's tomorrow, that may send a message to this country that we want less government, we want more freedom. thank you very much. [cheers and applause] ♪ [cheers and applause]

[inaudible conversations] >> talk to 'em, deal with 'em, trade with 'em like we should be doing with cuba. >> congressman paul, could you explain to the other candidates why -- [inaudible] is such a -- [inaudible conversations] >> they cannot come back. >> sorry about that. that's a little hard to get through that crowd of media there. um, let's go ahead and continue, and i'm going to give our next speaker a little time to try and get through this while they get back to the media room. i also want to make an announcement. there's going to be lunch that'll start being served at 12:15 on the concourse level, but all afternoon and for the rest of this morning we have got some great issues-related panels that'll be discussing different issues. so be sure and be around for that. i know you'll enjoy it. our next speaker is a very special person. he's retired colonel, he is an eagle scout, and he also received god and country. and what's special about this is

he's a single father, and as he raised his son, they did this together. and that's what the republican party is about, family and working together. he has a ph.d. in business management, he's a university instructor, and he also runs a tree pardon farm -- tree farm. he graduated command in general staff college and also the air war college. he is running for senate in the state of florida and is an unapologetic conservative. would you join me in welcoming retired colonel mike mcalister? [applause] ♪ >> well, what a fine looking group of americans, and being here this week as we feel the energy and the excitement that's going on, there's no wonder that the democrats are getting nervous. what a great day to be in this fight to take america back. and to those of you who consider

yourself a tea party conservative, please, keep working hard, and together we're going to restore america to greatness. my name's mike mcalister, i'm a god-loving, god-fearing, america-loving, flag-waving, gun-owning conservative businessman and retired colonel that's running for united states senate. [applause] and i'm from florida. in 2010 we elected governor rick scott, lieutenant governor jennifer carroll and attorney general pam bondi. we have a balanced budget and a strong credit rating, and last year we created 132,000 private sector jobs. we elected marco rubio to the u.s. senate and sent a hard-charging lieutenant colonel named allen west to the united states congress. [applause] i want to recognize the seniors today. you're our national heritage. you worked and built this country with your blood, your sweat and your tears. and after the sacrifices you

made, we can't let you down, and we must restore america to the greatness you created and keep it there. and i want to recognize all of our veterans and veterans' families, and i'm going to ask you to stand up and be recognized. [applause] let there be no doubt, you are our nation's heros. you know, this is still the greatest country on the planet. america is the world's last true global military power and protecter of freedom and democracy. and our fine military today is composed of the very absolute best young soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines of anywhere in the world. and washington must understand their mission and support them fully so that they can win and survive in battle. as americans you never need to go anywhere on the planet and hang your head. this country saved the free world as we know it today more

than once and with our most precious blood. and i think that we are tired of this president standing on foreign soil bowing to muslim kings and apologizing to the world for who and what we are, and he must be fired. [applause] and by the way, we're going to fire his czars and his nonconfirmed appointees too, because it's unconstitutional. for those who criticized america, i think of mr. tony blair when asked by the media was he so defensive of the united states, and his answer was perhaps the best measure -- the best way to take measure of any nation is how many want in and how many want out. now, we hear always said we should keep government and religion separate. well, when a government seems to be more isn't on attacking we the people than solving our problems and keeping america

strong and when a government crosses the line and infringes on our unalienable rights and threatens our religious freedoms and the judeo-christian values that are the foundation of this great nation, then that is a battle that must be fought on all fronts. and we must all suit up and get in this fight to keep america one nation under god. [applause] and by the way, i had a christmas tree and not to -- not a holiday tree. [applause] my vision for america may be the same as some of yours. i want us to be strong, prosperous, safe, proud, sovereign and respected around the world for who and what we are, and by golly, we've earned it. we've got to have a strong economic future by getting government out of the way and getting america back open for business. we must get the world's consumers buying american-made goods and services. so what are we up against? well, the united states is 5% of

the world. 40% of the world live in china and india. china by some measurements now is the largest manufacturer, the largest exporter of goods and the number two economy on the planet. and has very little patent protection. so we have work to do. we must create and bring industry and jobs back to america. we must get america's companies and small businesses back to work. now, i'm curious how many of you are in business or management. raise your hands. when the federal government cuts spending, how many americans did you run out and hire the next day? the -- yeah, none. but when you start having more customers buying more of your goods and services, that's when you went out and hired more americans, would you agree? that's what we've gotta do. we need to create a business-friendly environment that levels the playing field. we need to get government out of the way. we need lower taxes, less regulation and tort reform.

we need to conduct effective value chain analysis on all of our companies and industries. we need to get u.s. companies plugged into the mainstream of their industry. get u.s. companies hiring other u.s. companies that are in their supply channels and distribution channels. and we must protect our national power. with better treaties and trade agreements and stop allowing competitive nations from pirating our research and development in innovations and using them against us economically and militarily. and we've got to get america leading the way again in the manufacturing of high-tech goods. we need to strategically align health care with waste, fraud and abuse, and we need serious tort reform so doctors and hospitals don't have to prescribe duplicate or unnecessary tests just to get paid or avoid being sued. and we need to upgrade our education -- [applause] throughout america at the state level, and we need to get industry more involved in the curriculums. they have the customer.

what jobs do they have, what skill sets, degrees and expertise are they gonna need? and elevate the prestige and curriculum of tech schools for those students that don't want to go to college. and we need more internships for our students in high schools and tech schools and colleges, spend time in the workplace getting academic credit to learn how serious and competitive it is out there. let's take a look at the threats facing our country. we're under attack every day, everywhere we look. inside and out. internally, yes. uncontrolled federal spending. union management, not accepting the realities of foreign competition. and liberal judges making up the rules giving our country away. a failing education system that's not keeping up with global competition and a federal government ignoring the rights of our citizens and our states and restrictive laws handcuffing american productivity and competitive spirit. communism working to destroy the family values and can cohesiveness, and illegal immigration and unsecure borders

that's taking our jobs and receiving free government benefits at taxpayer expense, and radical islamic aggression in our schools and textbooks and in our courts. and, obviously, throughout our society. growing black market for phony and stolen ids and credit cards and liberals who don't want to face any of this or seem to think it's all gonna be okay. externally the other 95% of the world that's attacking us daily. unfair trade practices and currency devaluations by competitive nations, the breaching of our patents and investment in the r&d by china and brazil are robbing us of our proprietary technologies and economic strength and eroding our jobs and industrial base. the global proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and technology that will one day be used to military applications against us from countries such as iran or korea or china. the global war on terror, radical islamic expansion around the world with al-qaeda, hamas

and hezbollah. vladimir putin still hanging around the soviet union when his desires and vision to return down to the previous days of grand your and glory. the global black market on drugs, money laundering and trafficking. cyber espionage of our secrets, and pirates operating on the open seas. and the u.n. initiative the one world government gonna try to tell you where to live and take away your gun. so, my friends, how are we going to defeat these threats and protect ourself? you know, ronald reagan had it right, you threaten us, we win, you lose. [applause] [laughter] we need less regulation, fewer laws that restrict. our business and our jobs and our freedoms. we need a comprehensive and integrated national security policy that returns american pride, prestige and respect around the world where our allies stand with us at all times, and our enemies fear us for good reason. we need to insure our national secrets and vital interests are protected, and it's got to bring

to bear all assets and resources of national power into a unified effort with six core pieces. first, an immigration policy that until the federal government does their job, allows the states to protect themselves and to check to see if you're supposed to be here, if there's a question. and if you're not, we're going to return you to your home country at their expense. and no amnesty. being an american citizen's an honor. membership should be reserved for those who follow the rules, and it's -- [inaudible] and an energy policy. we need to increase our oil domestic production and refinery capacity. we need to increase our use of nuclear, coal and natural gas and build the keystone pipeline and with american workers. we need an economic policy. we need to cut our spending and pass a balanced budget amendment and start paying off this $15 trillion debt. and we need to save medicare and social security.

we've got to protect and promote small business and entrepreneurship, restore free markets and create that business-friendly environment. we need trade agreements and treaties that protect our jobs and our patents and our technology and level the playing field for u.s. government, u.s. services and goods against nations who cheat. we need to stop all the finger pointing and dividing americans against each other. american business and american workers must be a team, a house divided cannot survive. this global economy is american companies and workers competing against the other 95% of the world. we need americans all pulling together against foreign competition. so let's go show the world what this country can do and go win this thing. we need a foreign policy that returns american prestige and honor around the world. our u.s. ambassadors and embassy teams must be formidable, and we should not have treaties or trade agreements with nations that are breaching patents and stealing our jobs and industry,

our investment in wealth and our military secrets and security. or harboring terrorists or supporting money landerring and and -- laundering. we need a domestic policy here at home that protects america's homeland, that restores the constitution as the law of the land. we must have a review process for judges who are not upholding the constitution and insure our religious rights and the rights of our churches are upheld. we need to protect our proprietary technology and investment including nasa and force our employers to insure that workers are here legally. and when we do infrastructure development here at home, it needs to be american companies, american workers, american equipment and american materials. and we need an effective homeland security that secures our borders, and we need to require proof of citizenship to get a voter registration. [applause] and we should not allow sharia courts or banks in america. and finally, a military policy. we must maintain the absolute

best military in the world to protect our vital interests. and all our commitments to veterans and veterans' families must be fulfilled. our fine and proud military should only be used as a last resort. only after all other options have been exhausted, only after a clear and present danger to u.s. national security has been confirmed, only after the instrument of force is the only vehicle left, and only after complete analysis of the threat. who are they, what are they, what do they have, where are they at, how they use it, what's their strengths and weaknesses? but then when you have to commit, have a clear, end-state vision of of what the victory are look like. well defined military objectives so the commanders know what their job is, and establish rules of engagement that level the playing field for our forces and take away unfair fair enemy advantages. and then you establish a force package that we call having overwhelming force. it integrates all elements of national power into a full,

joint operation that dominates at every level, strategically, operationally and tactically in all environments, land, sea and air. you keephe command american military leaders. you shape the battlefield, the combat tempo and dictate the outcome, and you eliminate the threat with a swift and complete victory. and then you get the troops out, you protect the victory with a well-designed exit strategy, and you protect the rights of our troops and their families while they're fighting and no more home foreclosures on military families. we need a full audit of the federal reserve. we need to know where our money's going. and they should have transparency and accountability to the gao. and maybe we should replace the irs with a fair tax. promote free markets and stop the national labor relations board from telling our companies what states they can have their jobs, and maybe eliminate the u.s. department of education and the epa and return that to the states. and we need to stop this dumbing down of america and get back to the values and principles that made this country great. we need to get the pride of

american history and the constitution, the american flag and the pledge of allegiance back in our schools and god blessing our country. and we must stop this political correctness of radical extremists. they want to kill us, and it can't be tolerated. and no teaching of islam or sharia in the schools unless the bible is taught as well. [applause] and we must fully support israel as the only democracy and ally that we have in the middle east. and no building permits for mosques on sacred soil stained with the blood of innocent americans from a terrorist attack. pleasure and finally, an immigration policy on this one. we must secure our borders period. everything's coming through there. money laundering, drug trafficking and terrorism. we've got to stop rewarding people for being here legally. being in this country is a privilege and not a right. and americans have paid the ultimate price for this place, and just because you show up does not mean we owe you anything. anyone in this country must be

here legally. if you want to work in this country, you must be in the tax system. anybody wanting to live in this country needs to be a contributor and not just a taker. and you want to be a citizen? we have a process that many have followed that you need to respect and follow, and for me, please, learn to speak english. so, my friends, where do we learn to go from here? -- where do we go from here? we've got to end these liberal giveaways. as a commissioned officer of the united states military i took an oath, as did many of us, protect and defend the constitution against the enemies of the unite, foreign and domestic. we need our president and congress to respect and defend the constitution, and we must replace the ones that are not doing what's right for america. we must stop this legislating from the oval office and courtrooms, and we must take control of the u.s. senate in 2012 with real conservatives that have serious credentials to face the serious threats attacking our great country every day. now, i get asked about the second and tenth amendment, and i have a little saying.

i think we need a sign. at every road, airport and harbor, you're entering a tenth amendment owned and operated state, and justice will be serve with the the second amendment. [cheers and applause] we need to get the government out of the way so americans' competitive spirit can get back to work and put an end to obama economics that have failed and throw the illegal obama health care system in the trash. we need to restore the family as the pillar of american society and protect the rights of the unborn. and we need to keep the ownership of america in the hands of american citizens and out of the hands of the federal government and china. and we need to stop agenda 21 and the one world concept. we do not need anyoning us how to -- anyone telling us how to run this country, where to live or that we can't have a gun. and we need to amend the treaties to protect america's interests or get us out of the u.n. we need to stop using government to collect union dues and paychecks, and we need to stop giving our money away to unfriendly nations and use it to save medicare and social

security. and maybe we should fire janet napolitano and get someone running homeland security that understands what that job is all about. [applause] let's bring this to a close. we must defeat the liberal agenda. they will be formidable, let's not kid ousts. we'll have to have our game face on and put our most qualified players on the field at every level. republicans need to remember reagan's values and stop attacking other republicans. next year's election will have huge and long-lasting consequences. next year's election is about your children, your grandchild and your country. america's under attack, and we need all hands on deck. and we remember what ronald reagan said to those that don't believe freedom has to be protected, freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. we didn't pass it to our children in the bloodstream. it must be fought for, protected and handed on for them to do the same. my friends, this is still the

land of the free, the home of the brave, and one nation under god. we must keep our great country strong, safe, proud, prosperous and free and stop those who want to give it away or take it away. and failure is simply not an option. [applause] you know, americans have always found a way to win once we get serious, and it's time to get serious. and take care of business. i want to thank you for being here, my friends, and may god bless you, and may god bless these united states of america. [cheers and applause] ♪ >> i have really had the fortune

today and yesterday of visiting with our next speaker, visiting with him backstage. he's very impressive. he's done a lot of things that have really touched me in the amount of time he gives back to the community. jay fly is the current start -- feely is the current starting place kicker for the arizona cardinals. he has gained attention for his outspoken conservative values and has appeared on several conservative shows including fox news' "hannity." jay is married to rebecca, and they have four children. would you join me in welcoming jay fly? feely? [applause] >> well, thank you very much. it's an honor to be here today and to get to speak to you. you may be asking yourself why they brought a football player in here to speak to you when you've had so many distinguished speakers already, yesterday and today. i've always said that the greatest opportunity and advantage of of being a professional athlete is the

opportunity you have to have an impact on your community. you're given a platform because you play football. you know, unlike what charles barkley said, you don't get the choice whether you want to be a role model, you are by default. and through just a little effort, you can have great impact on adults, but also on kids. so today i want to try to have that opportunity to have an impact on you, hopefully, and i'll tell you some stories throughout my life and throughout my career that have a relationship to politics. i'm not going to get into a lot of policy, but when i was trying to get into the nfl, i spent two years working as a financial adviser first, continuing to go after my dream and to get into football, but it didn't happen right away. i continued to go to tryouts and work as hard as i could. i finally got an opportunity to go into atlanta to play for the falcons and to compete. and that's really all i got was the opportunity. and i think that's what's great about our country. what we try to promise is

opportunity, not obligation. i went in there as the, really, the backup, was able to win the job, and 12 years later i'm continuing to play, but what was special was that i was given an opportunity. in 2008 obama talked about change and the change that he would bring, and the change he brought was a change to the very nature of the principles of our country. our forefathers sailed across the atlantic ocean in hope of a better world, in hope of individual freedom, liberty and freedom of religion, one that included the hope of a better life for themselves, but more importantly, for their children and their children's children. that hope for a better future has been the hallmark of our decision making for over the last 200 years. but it is sitting in a precarious place today. the hope for a better future was always coupled with the fortitude to make the right decisions. most of the time difficult decisions that insure our future success. that fortitude and forward thinking has been replaced today with an american society that is

me first, and a lot of times amoral in their attitudes that only consider their own happiness. the left, solely concerned with insuring freedom to live your life by your own whims regardless of the overarching consequences on our society. we've become a society from gay marriage to abortion, from crippling debt to entitlement programs, immigration reform to environmental reform, placing the desires of unions before the obligation to properly educate our children. appeasing foreign enemies to abandoning our allies, the decisions we are making individually and as a nation are leading us away from our core principles and away from prosperity. instead of insuring future success, we are crippling our children's future with obscene financial obligations that will sink any opportunity we have for prosperity and economic success. i'd like to, as we head into the

presidential campaign, i'd like to remind you of a nice verse that i like, proverbs 26:11, a fool repeats this foolishness. hopefully, we won't make that same mistake as we head into the presidential election. i really think to be successful whether it's in politics, business or football, you have to have the ability to not fear failure. if you want to have an impact as as a politician, you can't be afraid of failing, you can't be afraid of running a race and not winning, you can't be afraid of standing up for a principle and not being successful and not getting a law passed. you have to not fear failure. it's very similar in football. if i'm going to be a great kicker and i'm going to go out there and succeed, i'm going to fail. and i always tell kids failure is not something to be feared, it's, rather, something to be embraced. in 2005 i was playing for the new york giants, and we were having a good year. it was in december, and we went up to seattle, and i had the worst game of my career. [laughter] i, i had three game-winning

kicks at the end, one in the regular period of the game and then two in overtime that i missed. we lost the game and lost home field advantage. it was, obviously, a long plane ride home for me. not a fun thing to go to, especially when you play in new york and the media fascination that new york has with their teams. i was trying to get through the week and focus on not losing my job, on being able to succeed that next game and not fear failure. obviously, i had to go out there and perform again the next week even though i had failed on a great stage. well, saturday night as i'm laying in my bed getting ready for the game, all of a sudden i got about 50 text messages on my phone. little did i know, saturday night live had lampooned me and done a story called the jay feely story, the long ride home, what it was like to ride from seattle back to new york on that plane, and dane cook actually played me. i didn't know they were going to do that, and i didn't see the humor in it at the time. [laughter] but later on i was able -- the next game, i went out, we played

philadelphia, we went into overtime. of course, i had to kick again in overtime. they called timeout to ice me, and as i'm standing there trying to focus on making this kick and not losing my job and getting kicked out of the nfl for good, the city of brotherly love played a montage of all my losses from the seattle game and the saturday night live skit. so i know all about fear of failure. and i'm able to tell that story because i made the kick, and my ceer continued to go on. [applause] but i don't think we can fear failure. i can't in my profession, and a politician can't, and you can't in your life in business. and i think we need to help our kids and the younger generations to understand that failure's not something to be feared, it's something to be embraced. a lot of times you end up becoming better because of your failures. as a result of going through that and overcoming that and not allowing it to defeat me, i became a much better kicker. the last six years of my career have been much better than the first five years, and i think it's a direct result of going

through that, having the fortitude and the faith to be able to continue to go out there and put myself on the line and succeed. i think we need to do that as we look at politics in our country as well. i believe there are three core issues as conservatives that we must succeed in fixing and in capturing if we're going to have success in our country. the economy, our crippling debt, and our education system. like i said, i'm not going to break them all down, i'm not as qualified as all the other speakerrings, but i will tell you about stories that i think capture the conservative spirit. as conservatives we believe in a free market economy. our tax system must reflect this belief. it must not stifle innovation and job growth. we are committed to providing a fair and equitable economic system, and i urge you to stand up to corporations and try to -- excuse me, stand up to corporations that want to take advantage of that. when banks make billions bundling bad mortgages and hide their debt in convoluted

economic -- in accounting practices only to be bailed out by the government, i don't think this encaptures conservative belief. when profit margins of certain food companies are placed before the long-term health of our children, that does not capture conservative beliefs. we must stand up to that. as everyday americans, we must have the confidence in free market economies, or they will inevitably give in to socialistic ideas. our debt. we're $15 trillion in debt, and prime minister ma want -- president obama wants to add another trillion to that. he does not try to bring jobs into our country as evidenced by his decision on the oil pipeline. we have to find a leader who will stand up to our debt, make the tough decisions, not fear failure and make the tough decisions to find solutions to our debt and to bring jobs into our country. thank you. i really wish we could follow the nfl model. in the nfl you have a salary

can. if you spend above that salary cap, and you know what it is, doesn't matter what player it it is, they go from the last player signed, and they begin cutting players. could be your greatest player or your worst player, it doesn't matter. you know how much you can spend, and if you spend over that, the commissioner's going to cut players until you're under the salary cap. we have to understand how much money we have as an economy, what our gross domestic product is, and we can't spend more than we make. it's a simple answer and a simple solution, but it takes fortitude. and we can't fear failure. when we look at our education system, we continue to fall behind the global economy, and many cities most of our students don't even graduate high school. it's tough right now for a kid who graduates college with a college degree to get a job. it's nearly impossible for someone who doesn't have a college degree to survive financially in our economy. we have to figure out a way to help students understand where they're going and why they're

going where they're going. we must have teachers that are committed to bringing learning, and they're willing to inspire students. if teachers' unions continue to put their own selfish desires in front of the welfare of our children, then we must be committed to fight these unions and their selfish interests. but more importantly, even more than our education system we need to provide hope for all children, hope for a better future, hope for a way out, hope for a new life. i did an outreach a few years ago in orlando, went into the community and had banks, businesses, schools come in into inner city orlando to help educate kids. they could ask whatever questions they wanted, trying to help them have a goal and dream for the future. there was a little 12-year-old girl sitting by herself, and i went up and sat down with her, started to talk to her, asked her about where she lived. she said, i live right down the street. asked her about what her hopes and dreams were, and i asked her

if she was going to go to college. she said, no, because we don't have any money. and i began to tell her about in florida they had at the time the florida academic scholarship, a program that would allow her if he got a 3.0 or better at her high school and got a corresponding score on her s.a.t.s and a.c.t.s to go to college. she looked at me, and tears began to roll down her cheeks. and for the first time somebody had given her hope, and that had a really dramatic impact on me because it showed me really not just policy and policy decisions, not just creating something. what we're trying to do for our kids is to give them hope; hope for a better future. if they don't have hope, then it doesn't matter any of the other decision we make. they have to believe that there's a better life and a better future. and as conservatives, that should be the core of what we believe. and we have to try to grab hold of that. [applause] obama is making a sharp turn left. he met this week, a couple weeks ago with a group of nfl players in chicago.

i talked to one of them. and he told me about the coalition that he's trying to get of nfl players toss support him in the coming election. well, i'm here to tell you that i'm going to create a coalition of nfl players that have conservative principles to support our candidate, whoever that may be. [applause] because i don't think we can spend four more years with the policies and the administration currently. i believe all of us have the opportunity to have an impact on our communities, that's why i'm here today. my brother had an allergic reaction when he was a year old to dpt shots. it left him, basically, the equivalent of a six month old for his whole life. he ended up living for 26 years, and he had a big impact on me and a number of other people in our family. one of the things he taught me is that god has a special plan and purpose for each of us and that we have to use the abilities that he gave us to have an impact on people's life. in 1997 i was playing for michigan, and we were play anything the rose bowl, playing for the national l championship.

we were undefeated. earlier in the week i spoke at a luncheon for about 2,000 inner city kids, and they said you can talk about anything, whatever you want. and i went in, and i talked about what was near and dear to my heart, i talked about god, and i talked about my brother michael. it wasn't anything profound. and we played the game, and we won the national championship. it was awesome. and we went back to our hotel, and there was people everywhere. i see a couple michigan fans, that's good. go, blue. we went back to our motel, and it was bedlam. there was thousands of people there celebrating the victory, i was trying to wade through the fans to find my family and friends, and a lady came up to me and said, are you jay feely? i said, yes, and she said, well, you don't know me, but my son's 10 years old, and he has an inoperable brain tumor, and he heard you talk about your brother, and he wanted to meet you. so i sat down with this young boy amidst all the people, all the hoopla of a football game that really had no meaning to me anymore, although i was excited

about it, and i got to talk to this boy about his life. i knew he was staring at death, i knew the doctors had given him less than a month to live, but he knew that god loved him, and he knew that god had a purpose for his life. and as i went to dinner that night, i could only think about my brother who at the time was still alive, laying in a bed like he did his whole life, but having an impact on somebody thousands of miles away across the country. and as i went home, i thought about my own life, and i made a promise to myself that whatever opportunity i had, whatever i did with my life, i was going to have an impact on people's lives. because if somebody like my brother who was never able to get out of a bed, was never able to do anything, was never able to say anything, if he can have an impact on people's lives, then what kind of impact can we have on people's lives? and we have to capture every moment and every opportunity we have to do that. to positively impact our community, make decisions that impact our community for the better. not just for ourselves, it's not just about us, it's about our children, our children's children. it's about making this country

better. i'd like to close with a poem from an unknown author entitled "what will today bring?" this is the beginning of a new day. god has given me this day to use as i will. i can waste it or use it for good. what i do today is important because i'm exchanging a day of my life for it. when tomorrow comes, this day will be gone forever. leaving in its place something i traded for it, and i want it to be gain, not loss; good, not evil; success, not failure in order that i shall never regret the price i've paid for today. god bless. [applause] >> hi, i'm senator jim demint. welcome to south carolina and to charleston. i'm really sorry i can't be with you in person today, but i wanted to take this chance to ask for your help, to ask for

your unity as we head into the 2012 elections. we always say that every election is the most important, but i think this really could be the last chance for us as americans to pull our country away from a cliff. we've never been at this point before where our debt as a nation is larger than our economy, and we have a president who's planning to double that debt over the next ten years. the good news is that the principles that make this country exceptional are till at work today -- are still at work today. they've just been greatly diminished by an overbearing government. we can change things, but the democratic party has half of america, those who are dependent on the government and want more from government, organized and ready to fight for this next election. those of us who are thinking, working, tax-paying americans, those of us who understand that america's exceptional because we're a bottom-up country, we're a country where millions of people make their own decisions about what they value, and we need to make sure in the future

that those millions of people are choosing what schools to go to, what doctors to go to and not an overbearing government telling them how to run their lives. we can win this election, but it could be our last chance. we're on a course now in our country where in a few years 60% of americans will be getting something from government and only 40% paying for it. but now we're at a tipping point, and if those who know better believe in freedom and want to fight for american exceptionalism, get united. we can win this election not just for the presidency, but for the house and the senate. we need to give our next president a congress that they can work with, and i'm optimistic that we can. it took more than one election to get us in the hole that we're in today, and it'll take more than one to get us out. but we had a good start in 2010, and we saw what the power of the people can do. we need to see more of that doubled in the next election, and i believe we can. i'm asking as you look at the

primaries and not only in south carolina, but across the country that you vote for whoever you want, you find the best of the best and vote for them. but when we have our nominee as a party, let's be united and recognize that we've got to win this election. we've got to defeat obama, we've got to repeal obamacare and dodd-frank and remove this wet blanket burden that we've put on our economy so that we can build america and create a brighter future than we've ever had before. i believe we can do it, i believe we'll be united, and i think we'll see the citizens of america more than in any time in history come together to change our country for the better in this next election. thank you for creating the critical mass of principles and power in charleston, and we expect that all of you will leave and go out and work for your candidate, but get behind those republicans when the primaries are over. thank you and, again, welcome to south carolina.

[applause] >> eric golub is politically conservative, morally liberal and by his own admission completely off kilter. these quirks have allowed him to pursue his goal of being the world's preeminent republican jewish blogger. eric is brooklyn-born, strong island raised and looking forward to a world where people are judged by the nobility in their hearts. his web site, tiger express, won the 2007 bloggers' choice award for most passionate fan base. he lives in los angeles and works as a stock brokerage and oil professional. would you join together with me in welcoming eric golub? [applause] ♪

>> first of all, i would like to apologize for the sound in my voice, came down with a terrible cold. what happened is i went to the debate last night, and the minute john king spoke, he made me sick. [laughter] [applause] secondly, these shades are not a fashion statement, i recently had lasik surgery. best thing i ever did. i can see everything crystal clearly now, so the question then becomes what do you call a man named eric who can see everything crystal clearly? well, you don't call him attorney general. [laughter] ..

>> freedom loving americans are going to take back this country and fired barack obama. [applause] >> you are the loveliest bunch of astroturf i've ever seen in my life. and man, you don't look like a violent, angry mob. you look like a nice person. i mean, i bet you never even been to wisconsin or a wall street protester. i india because our freedoms are under assault and my message to barack obama is very simple. as we honor martin luther king, jr. this weekend, we are judging him by the content of his character. mr. president, none of us care whether or not you are light skinned or dark skinned. we have never cared. the problem we have with you,

mr. president, is that you and your supporters are thin-skinned. they treat any criticism like an active or. the only time they understand war, and then they tell us to go along to get along, to be bipartisan. now, when a liberal tells a conservative, be bipartisan, but that liberal is really telling a conservative is shut up and agree with me. [applause] the left would like bipartisanship, i've got some ways we can be bipartisan and we'll all get along just fine. first, let's compromise on the issue of gun control. some of you are like what is that hippie with a long hear from the people's republic of los angeles just say? yeah, let's cover was on gun control. here's how it works. liberals favor gun control. conservatives are against it.

well, let's be bipartisan. but simply take what all the guns from the liberals and give them to us. [applause] that what it does every conflict like election 2000 that cannot be resolved peaceably, we will win because we will have all the guns. next, let's compromise on taxes. the left favors higher taxes. the right favors lower taxes. if the left likes of socialism and wealth redistribution so much, fine by me. let's simply take the money from them and give it to us. [applause] if they try to stop us, remember my first bullet point, we will have all the guns. one area where there is no compromise is the issue of abortion, and i ask, and i'm neutral in the gop primary can but i asked rick santorum and jim demint a simple question about abortion. would you still be willing to be pro-life a few new that modern medical technology would show

that the child would grow to be defective ideologically like nancy pelosi? i am happy to say that rick santorum said i believe there is hope for every child. senator demint said that's a hard choice. senator, be careful because there are liberal bloggers rundgren. people so you can even make fun of barack obama. they say he is like actor will smith can be so cool, calm, collected, doesn't get rattled, nothing to make fun. for those who say we can't make fun of barack obama, this is to america so i say yes, we can, yes, we can, yes, we can. [applause] yes, we can, yes, we should, yes, we absolutely will. and the message he delivered last november and will again next november is mr. president, no, you can't. no, you won't, and no, you don't.

[applause] there's tons to make fun of barack obama. first of all, he is nothing like actor will smith. i saw the movie independence day and "men in black." will smith secure the borders and took care of the aliens. [applause] let's start out with the obvious. barack obama said is so disproportionate they should rename the presidential plane year force one. and you would think with years that size, just once he would listen but he doesn't. there are tons to make fun of barack obama. i don't want to say that he is a snob, but i look at barack obama and i think, picture what would happen if jacques chirac and john kerry had a baby. actually, i'm going to take that remark back because in the spirit of dr. king, there is nothing wrong with being partially blocked by to say someone is half french is

unforgivable. but i don't want the second coming of jacques chirac and john kerry but i would rather a real conservative, the second coming of ronald reagan and margaret thatcher, any number of good conservatives like herman cain, sarah palin, michele bachmann, ron paul, rick santorum, mitt romney or newt gingrich. now, with good conservatives in mind i wrote the book ideological bigotry. ibooks and t-shirts of there. i recommend the books because they are more expensive. i did the research as to why the left hates the right, and they do hate our guts. it is because we exist and we breathe air. that's it. take the were jewish, a quick tangent, i should've known better as a jewish person driver like distances decatur, let me tell you, never ever rely on a palestinian gps tracker. [laughter] i took one wrong turn and ended up at a cemetery in a very

sinister voice said you've reached your final destination. [laughter] >> take the were jewish to replace aboard republican or better yet conservative. take the word hamas and hezbollah replace it with the words liberal democrat. the left are verbal suicide bombers accept less warm and fuzzy but if you're a minority and a conservative, michael steele, sarah palin for air canada, michele bachmann or herman cain, they will try to destroy. and they will try to refute to shreds shreds if you believe in radical christian notion such as all i don't knows, something dangerous and since in christianity like love thy neighbor. late at night i used to be worried about osama bin laden wielding a bomb. i was never terribly threatened by pat robertson wielding a book. now, here's some good news. osama bin laden is still currently burning underground

with 72 helen thomas'. gadhafi was not so lucky. he got stuck with 72 katie couric's. joy be hard was turned down. so why does the left hate us? they hate us because we are alive. we exist and we breathe air, and that's it. the left are bullies and the only solution to dealing with bullies is force. they go after sarah palin not because of what she says or does, but just because she is. i don't agree with sarah palin on every issue, and maybe i shouldn't say this in front of the conservative group but i'm going to. being from california i can't stand sarah palin to michele bachmann or nikki haley's position on traditional marriage. i think it's awful. what i mean by that is i can't stand the fact that they are married to somebody who is not me. [applause] and that's why conservative men are so happy. we have nikki haley.

with sarah palin and michele bachmann. that helen thomas and madeleine albright. it's not fair. the left should love sarah palin. this is a woman to read an entire state, had a budget surplus, five lovely children that she picks up and takes to school, same as michele bachmann, while balancing everything else. barack obama only has two children and his joe biden picking them up from school. the left should love the sarah palin, and bullies like debbie wasserman schultz, go after them. how dare they? debbie wasserman schultz acts like she knows everything. she is hogan's heroes sergeant shultz. she knows nothing. [applause] and what happens when a flaming leftist lunatic like it daddy why so and gets married to a flaming not see like sergeant schultz?

you produce a hateful child known as msnbc's ed schultz. i always wondered where he came from. notice that's why became a republican. i became a republican because i am the son of a holocaust survivor, and when you are the son of a holocaust survivor, you will not get an ounce of sympathy growing up for anything as long as you live. teenage angst did not exist in my household. i remember at age 14 i tried to convince my father of social studies class was too hard. he just looked at me i'm sympathetically and asked, did the teacher tried to shoot you? i said no, dad. he said upstairs, books, learn, personal responsibility. my parents are still complaining

in south florida. my dad is like, we have got to secure the border. and my parents by the way, they had that butterfly ballot in 2000 design by democrats, made for democrats commend to elect republicans. and my dad looked at me in 2000 said, son, world peace is finally breaking out. i said where are you going with this, pops? he said just to think that elderly liberal jewish holocaust survivors are would put aside the past andover pat buchanan. he said if your mother and i ever get to the point where we can't figure out a ballot, or we are too feeble to push the thing all the way through, son, at that moment we will have become liberals. euthanize us, the house is yours. my parents are still complaining in south florida. my dad is like we have got to secure the border. unlike dad, what have the cubans

ever done to you? they vote republican, what's the problem? what do you have against marco rubio? i said, he looked at me and said, son, i'm talking about the northern florida border, the new york liberals keep coming. he wants us to get our best sharp shooters at the city to to keep them from reaching georgia. florida, arizona, california, texas, they are overrun by parasites. they drained a state of services. they don't work. demand new services. speak a foreign language, i don't understand. i don't recognize my own country anymore all because these parasites take, take, and dignity back. of course, i'm talking of aarp liberals. and in the spirit of martin luther king, jr. where we judge people not by the color of their skin but by the content of their

character, when somebody looks at me and says but aren't you proud of the fact that a black man became the most important man in the country who is going to leave this world a great us? i.c.e. agent, i love tim scott, what's your point? but as i told congressman scott come and i told herman cain, and i said this to herman cain, the world is not ready for you yet in the white house. i mean, between you and tim scott and armstrong williams and michael steele and ward connerly, the world is not ready. and herman cain said but i don't see myself as a black conservative. i do see myself as a conservative. i said black conservative? i was talking about the follicle he challenged. look at what happened in 2008. rudy giuliani, john mccain, fred thompson. then barack obama. he has good hair. now, one of the things that i've

learned, and i wish politicians understood this, it is always better to have people ask why are you finished speaking, then when are you finished speaking? so i am going to leave you with a hebrew word, that word means here i am. never give up, never give in, always fight for what you believe in, never back down from a fight, don't bring a knife to a gunfight, bring a bazooka, or a predator drone if you have access to one. we are right, the left is wrong. we will win, they will lose. we will have and we will make them cry in 2012, 2013, 2014 and beyond, and have fun doing it. live, love, laugh, when. here i am, conservative

republican and proud of it, always. thank you so very much. [applause] ♪ >> next up we're going to start our panel discussions on different issues. i would like to take about a 10 minute break so that we can reset the stage to handle the panel discussions. so we will be back with you in 10 minutes. thank you. ♪ >> as we heard, we're back underway in about 10 minutes or

so here from charleston, south carolina. in the meantime let's bring the remarks yesterday by the republican national committee chair, reince priebus. >> good afternoon, republicans, and it's great to be here today. thank you, chad. is doing a fabulous job here. in south carolina. i come here with a message from the republican national committee that we are ready to fire barack obama, save america, and in the process will also save our party. republicans have the momentum. we have the enthusiasm, and we will have the resources and manpower to beat barack obama in november. but let me tell you something. it's going to be a fight. we've got work to do.

you, myself, all of us together. that's because we are up against the campaigner in chief. and administration in full campaign mode, and a $1 billion chicago political machine. that's what the other side has. but we have something stronger on our side. the right message and the right priorities. we offer a message of freedom, a message of renewal, a message of prosperity, and a message of economic opportunity. and we have the priorities and policy priorities that will add it all up and bring it all together. this election is about the failed record of barack obama. though our message will be by and large about holding him

accountable to that record. in 2008, barack obama had no record. so he ran on hope and change. as we know in 2012, he has a record, and so now he is running on the concepts of fear and division. he has already admitted that he has failed, every time he tries to make the election about something other than his record, he is admitting failure. so we have to be out there getting the message, attacking the president on his record, holding him accountable for his policies, and reminding voters of his broken promises. 2012 will be a referendum on barack obama. did his policies work? did he fulfill his promises?

are we better off as a country today than where we were three or four years ago? that's the same question that reagan as about carter's record, and that's the same question that we will ask about obama's. that's the most objective reasonable standard by which to judge a president. it's not my standard. it's not the republican party's standard. it's the standard that barack obama set for himself. and at the rnc, we launched a website last week to answer that very question. it's called failed promise.com. it is a top 10 list. but it is no joke. it is obama's top 10 failed promises, so here they are. in 2008, he promised to fight our addiction to foreign oil.

just last year he said that his own energy policy was a hodgepodge and he said we're not where we need to be. and look what he did yesterday. thumbing his nose at 20,000 more jobs in the keystone pipeline. he called wall street executive cats while raising more money from wall street and all of the other candidates combined. he promised a lower costs on health care, but health care premiums have risen over 9% just last year alone. he promised to ban lobbyists from the white house your yet he has hired over 100 of them himself. he promised to save 9 million families from foreclosures, and under his watch foreclosures actually skyrocketed by 7 million. do you member when he said that adding $4 trillion to the debt

was unpatriotic? do you remember that? yes. and then he increased the debt by $4.5 trillion. he promised to cut the deficit in half, and what did he do? he introduced the biggest structural deficit in the history of the world, just last year. he promised to create hundreds of thousands of jobs in the area of green energy, and what did he do? he flushed over half a billion dollars down the toilet to a company called solyndra in the silicon valley. and that brings us to his number one failed promise, for those of you who are keeping track. barack obama promised that if he didn't have the economy fixed in three years, that he would be a one-term president.

and that's the promise that we're going to hold this president accountable for. [applause] now, that brings me to my second point. now, there are not a lot of people here, but i've got to tell you, we are here because the america we love can't afford a second term of barack obama. we have seen what an obama presidency looks like. we don't need another term. we need a different president. and remember this, remember this, everything the president has enacted, every liberal pipedream he has pursued, he hasn't done knowing, imagine this, he has done it knowing that he was going to have to face reelection. now, just imagine, imagine what would president obama do if he

knew he didn't have to run for a second term. after republicans won big in 2010, the pungent said that the president would move to the center to get reelected. now, doesn't look like this president has moved to the center? barack obama is a left-winger. there's no question about it anymore. and what would he try to do in a second term? from the way it looks, everything short of making the united states a full member in the european union. look, we can't afford to find out. in this election our children's future is at stake. our freedom is at stake. america is at stake. we have to win this election, or we will lose america. if we don't, collectivism will

replace individualism. government agencies will replace free enterprise. presidential mandates will replace the constitution. dependency will replace self-reliance. and the dreams of obama will replace the vision of our founders. this election will be about whether or not we want to have a country of takers, or whether we want of a country of makers. you want to have more people writing the wagon, or do you want to have more people driving the wagon? this election is going to be about whether we want to be a cradle-to-grave society, or do we want to pursue what's in every americans hard, which is a drive or individual and economic freedom. sometimes -- [applause] sometimes we forget history,

even those of us who aren't political junkies. you know, this country was founded on the idea of freedom. that's what makes us unique among the nations of the world, the idea of individual liberty that was championed by historical giants like jefferson and adams and madison. that's what brought america together. it's almost a paradox of sorts. unlike so many other countries in this world, it's our individuality that unites us. it's not raise, not ethnicity, not creed, but individual liberty. that's what we are fighting for. we are fighting for freedom. that's what motivates me. and no matter how hard biscuits, no matter how difficult this election may be, we can't lose faith. it's up to us to halt obama's relentless march to the far

left. his priorities are not america's priorities. [applause] and let me tell you something, barack obama is not your daddy's democrat either. he's not clinton. he's not kennedy. he is the first unapologetic liberal to live in the white house, and he's got to be the last. [applause] because this is the president that would rather bowed to chinese leaders and stand up for america's greatness. a president, a president that would rather trash the constitution than preserve our rights. a president who would rather defer to the united nations than defend the united states. and a president that allows the democratic national committee chair to exploit a tragedy in

tucson, arizona, just to trash the tea party. [applause] we serve the principles of jefferson and washington and madison. he served the demands of union bosses, central planners, and the elitist bureaucrats. we believe in the philosophy of our founding father. he believes in one man's philosophy, the philosophy of barack obama. in america we have had presidents that have studied law, who taught law, and practiced law. but we have never had a president who thought that he was above the law, like how this president believes about himself. we've never had a president who sought to trade the american dream for a european socialistic

nightmare. barack obama has put america on and utterly unsustainable trajectory. the more he grows government, the more he grows the debt, the less freedom our children will enjoy. when washington, d.c., when washington, d.c. runs the economy, washington, d.c. runs our lives. and when washington, d.c. can tell us what to do, we can't tell it to stop. it's time to end the barack obama presidency before his presidency ends our way of life. are you with me? [applause] as rnc chairman, rnc chairman, it's my promise to you to run a

strong, robust, functional, operational, republican national committee that will bring all the races together, the white house, the senate, the house, the state houses and beyond, to be victorious in november. we have to be victorious together. as you know, as you might know, i've got two little kids, jack and grace. and i want them to grow up in an america that is strong, vibrant, and healthy. i want them to grow up in an america bursting with opportunity. that's not the america that we see today, and that's certainly not the america, god forbid, we will see after a second term of barack obama. but victory in november is only possible if it's a united victory. if we're all in this together. so i ask you to keep up the hard

work, keep up the work that our party needs. but more importantly, this election isn't about the republican party. this election isn't about the democratic party. this election is about america. everyone of us in this room, every one of us, we've all been blessed in different ways, and not agree on every little thing, on every little detail on every candidate, but in the end we can agree that if we are going to save this country, and that if this is not just a bunch of talk, but if we are series on what's on the line in november, if you agree with me that "the idea of america" is at stake in this election, then we need to come together. we need to do everything we can to fire barack obama, save america and in the process will save our party. god bless you. had a great week. [applause] thank you.

>> back live to the tdm in, the challenge -- the college of charleston. the republicans southern leadership confident we sal remarks made yesterday by reince priebus, the republican national committee chairman. were expecting a panel discussion to get underway very shortly the subject in the electoral college versus the popular vote. you can see the chairs are there. the panel should get started sure that our live coverage continues here on c-span2. ♪

>> as you can see, not too many folks in the hall right now so as we wait for people to make their way back we will check a couple things for your. i started moving from "the associated press" saying the supreme court has thrown out the electoral maps drawn by federal judges in texas that favored minorities. the unsigned opinion today left the fate of texas is april primaries unclear. the judges ordered the three-judge court in san antonio to come up with new plans but did not compel the use of maps created by texas republicans dominated state legislature. only justice clarence thomas said he would have gone pepfar. the controversy arose over redraw political boundaries based on results of the 2010 census that found that texas added more than 4 million new

residents, mostly latinos and african-americans since 2000. the minority groups complained they were denied sufficient voting power by the republican lawmakers who sought to maximize gop electoral gains in violation of the landmark voting rights act. that began from "the associated press." so as we watch you can we can see members of the panel filing in. let's watch and see if they get started shortly. live coverage here on c-span2. [inaudible conversations]

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>> [background sounds] >> we are ready to start again. thank you so much for being patient with us while we reset the stage. we have a great afternoon full of wonderful issue topics. and our first topic is going to be -- this panel will decide of private differences that prevent the country these days one side will be supporting and the other side will be advocating for the electoral college. please join me in welcoming our moderator, louis gurevich. [applause] >> thank you, thank you. as ruth said, today's spam is going to discuss the national popular vote bill which is

actually an interstate compact. and with us today are six prominent individuals -- [inaudible] mic problem? is that better? with us today we have three individuals who wish to speak in favor of the compact. nocompact. , a media right i have tom, chairman and national spokesman of the support popular vote. beyond him is senator fred thompson who needs no introduction from me. [applause] on our far right is ray hayes, former national chairman of the ever been legislators exchange council. to might immediate left, chairman roger of the louisiana republican party. [applause] john samples of the cato institute. [applause] and hans -- i wasn't easy, of

the heritage foundation. >> we'll begin with a six minute opening, obviously in traditional terms, though speaking in favor of the compact will go first. gentlemen, you have six minutes. why change the existing system? and how will it impact in practical terms the choice of president and vice president? >> thank you, mr. moderator. first of all, as the moderator mentioned in my name is tom, reason has been most of my time in upstate new york and now i'm a florida resident. i was one of these people that watched the electoral process -- [inaudible] >> i'm sorry? >> sure. >> i was one of the people that observed election process every year, didn't quite understand blue states, red states,

flyover, battleground, swing, all those terms that can be used. and also, the general knowledge that everything seemed to be focused on just a few number of states. when i woke up wednesday work out what i wanted to know is who became president of the united states, and did my vote count? i didn't particularly care whether my state voted one way or another. i was just most interested to see the president of the united states was. who became president of the united states. what we have today is called the winner take all rule. i'm sure most of you are familiar with it. basically it means that if candidate a gets one more vote than 50% in a particular state, all of those states electoral votes will go for that candidate. and literally ignoring the other 49.9% of the voters that voted for the other candidate. that's the winner take all rule. it's been in existence since about the 1830s.

states, according to the constitution of the united states, have the right and the responsibility to award their electoral votes in the way they see fit. and for a number of years, i've easy 180 years about, the states have chosen the winner take all rule, except for a couple of exceptions. those two exceptions are maine and nebraska. the award their electoral votes by congressional districts. also the state of massachusetts over the years has changed the way they award their electoral votes a number of times. we also have a situation this past fall in the state of pennsylvania where a senate, or a legislative leader and the governor backed a proposal to go to the congressional rule in the state of pennsylvania. it was also approach in the state of wisconsin. there was not much favor for that kind of a proposal. it was quickly withdrawn. as i said, the states have the right to decide how to award

their electoral votes. the winner take all rule does create some problems. that's what support popular is all about. we want to solve these problems. the first problem is four times in history of the united states, at a 56 presidential elections, the candidate with the least number of votes won the election. and, of course, this is because of the nature of the winner take all rule, where states could award their electoral votes based on the winner take all rule but not necessarily an aggregate population for the country. as i said, it happened four times out of our last 56, or are only 56 elections. all of you unsure or from a with what happened in 2000. very contested race. it came down to one state, the state of florida. and those electoral votes, by a very narrow margin, went to one candidate and the candidate with the least number of votes became

president. also in 2004, many of you may not remember this or know this, but if the state of ohio at 66,000 more people vote for john kerry, john kerry would've been the president of the united states. even though george w. bush had 3.3 million more votes than john kerry. can you imagine the a people and the uproar if that happened, if john kerry had become president with 3 million less votes? >> let me interject. we're going to run out of our six minutes in a moment that i'd like to hear from senator thompson and larry as well. >> mr. moderator, our plan was just to have me do this back okay, however you guys decide to do. i apologize. >> no problem. i am concerned about the time, too. one other issue relevant to the winner take all rule, relative to who wins the election is when you're only dealing with 538 electoral votes go or two under

69 side on average, you have a very large possibility of a tie in the number of electoral votes. in the case of attack and and i believe it is happen once in our history, the decision to the next present of the essays will be would go to the house of representatives. and i don't think anybody in this country thinks that is probably a very good idea to have happen. the second problem with the winner take all rule, it's created a phenomenon, a phenomenon where our country is divided into two groups, flyover states and battleground states are swing states but a flyover state is during the general election a candidate, both parties probably, will spend very little time, or no time, in 35 to 38 of our state. many because through polling it's been fairly will determine who is going to get at least 50% to win all the electoral votes. so consequently there is no purpose for a candidate to talk to the people in that state.

this is not good for the country. candidates don't learn the issues, the concerns by not visiting 35 and 38 states. and quite frankly the states on the other side, the battleground states get far more attention than they probably deserve. >> want to wrap it up? >> no. what i needed to put all my classes. in the 2008 election, 98% of the resources spent on campaign elections for presidency during the general election were spent in one quarter of the states. 98% of the time and the resources are spent in one quarter of the states. can you imagine ignoring the issues and concerns of 225 million people during a presidential campaign? and also it's a known fact that turnout rates, voter turnout rates in battleground states are

7% higher than they are in flyover states, which means there's an obvious disincentive for people to vote in the flyover states. generally speaking, in the state of new york, you would always ask yourself why bother voting because new york has only been democratic, and all the electoral votes have gone to the democratic candidate. we are electing the president of the united states, not the president of the battleground states. and the third issue we have is every vote should count equally. i think that's a basic premise, concerned that every american probably believes in. but how could we have a situation where he felt in ohio or florida can be so much more important than a vote in texas or california? but that is the situation we have because of the winner take all rule. can you imagine trying to explain this to your children? now, how do we solve this problem? we are on our way. first of all, 65% of the voters

in the recent gallup poll indicated that they want to go to the popular vote, the most from the candor with the most those in the entire country becomes the president of the united states. i think that number of 65% would probably be higher if more people understood the winner take all rule and what it means. second, we have states representing 132 electoral votes that are to pass legislation to go to the national popular vote to a compact that is conditional upon us getting 270 electoral votes are states representing electoral votes of 270 votes, which meant we are halfway there. we're halfway there. and this, considering the level of public airing and publicity this activity has had, it's quite a remarkable event. and now, of course, it's become a national event. it's the goal of the support popular vote to encourage all the other states to pass this

legislation so that the next president of the united states can be elected by the popular vote, which is really the will of all the people. now, if it doesn't get all passed by july 21, then it would apply to the 2016th election. this would guarantee that the candidate with the most votes nationwide would always win the election. the same way we elect our student class president, and the same way we elect our governors and our senators. the candidate with the most votes wins. >> thank you. in fairness, i'm constrained to you guys some additional time i think. so what about a? why change an existing system that's been in place for hundreds of years? what effect would it have on the presidential choice of our presidents and vice presidents? >> i'm going to go first. on ponds, the heritage foundation. and john samples and i at cato held a quick caucus and we decide to split the time. no recount necessary.

this is a bad idea. the way the national popular vote people going about his both our constitution and it is bad public policy. basically the way it would work is a state what were its electoral college votes come not based on what the voters in that state they can but on a national unofficial popular vote total. i kind of doubt that the people of south carolina if an agenda election, they vote for whoever is that you begin is going to be would be very happy when their electoral college votes get a warrant to perhaps the incoming president is, in fact, he wins nationally. it's unconstitutional because they are doing this with a compact, and they say that once in a state legislators have passed this, the equal, and maggiore of the electoral votes needed to win, that it goes into effect. well, excuse me, take a look at

the constitution and what does it say about contacts between the states? has to be approved by congress but if they really think this is such a great idea, then why don't they go through the process of an ending the constitution as you're supposed to with recorders of the states and two-thirds of congress approving it. if this would from a public policy come -- this would diminish the influence of smaller states and rural areas. they would lead to more recounts and contentious conflict. it would encourage voter fraud and it would radicalize american politics. the whole purpose of the electoral college a rigidly if you look at the debates during the constitutional convention was that the framers did not want a candidate for president only going to urban areas to get votes. they want them to also go to rural and smaller states. and that's why they state, no matter how small their population gets them electoral

college votes. it's true they don't get as much tension as larger states. but that problem would get worse under the national popular vote plan. now, they will costly tell you candidate just pay attention to swing states, battleground states. well, guess what? battleground in swing states change. you know, up until about 15 years ago california was actually a place that tended to vote republican for president. florida was actually a pretty sure state for republicans and tell about the mid 1990s. swing states change. what doesn't change are the big urban population areas. and think of this, because the state, a war, has to a word the electoral college votes will whoever wins the electoral popular. if you're in a small state with a small population, maybe rhode island, even if a candidate decide you doesn't want to go to

the process of qualifying for the ballot in your state for the general election, you are still going to have toward your electoral college votes to the individual. and people who are not eligible to vote in your state may be influencing how you award your electoral college votes but what i mean by that? no states if you're in prison, you can't vote. but you can't if you're in vermont or maine. and so people who would be an eligible in your state will be able to vote. everybody looks back at the 2000 election and recount that happened there, we had to wait what, five weeks to know who was president. that was a recount to in just one state. we have the most decentralized election system of any western democracy. the recount rules are different in every state. and that means that if a national election was so close

that one side thought a recount should be put in place, we really have no idea how that would happen. because some states might agree to take other states might not agree to it because they election in that particular state is not close enough. but if we had a national recount, it would make florida 2000 look like something that was easy. because in a national recount, every vote in every precinct, in every county in every state could make a difference in the national election, and you would have lawyers litigating whether votes should be counted, not just in a couple of counties in florida, but in every county in every state across the country. it's a situation quite frankly be if i can steal a line from one of our opponents, fred thompson from coming in, one of my favorite movies, die hard with a vengeance, you would have come we would have to stack

them, brockton, stack them and hack them, the ballots from all over the country to do that. why would any encourage voter fraud? right now because i if you liven a one party state, perhaps a state where the other party doesn't have observers, can watch what's happened and was easy to commit voter fraud, maybe you can steal enough votes to throw that particular state that you probably can't stop enough ballots into the about box can steal the entire election. but if every single vote stuffed into a ballot box could make a difference in a close national election than in the worst one party state, then you should be stuff about taxes as much as you can. finally, this would radicalize american politics and it's a way of european icing our politics. widely said that? a national popular vote plan would award the presidency not

to who wins a majority of the vote, but who ever gets the most votes, a plurality. what does that mean. it means he would encourage regional candidates, regional parties, and if you end up with three or four or even five people on the ballots for president, then could, somebody wins with this small as 35, 30%, 25% of the vote. one of the advantages of the electoral college and a winner take all system is that even when we have close elections, because of the system from president is elected with a majority, and there is no question, no one questions his legitimacy and his eight to rule. i am a son of immigrants, okay? my mother grew up in 90 german. my father was a white russian who fought the communists before fleeing. they ended up in a refugee camp in europe and then came here in

the early 1950s. one of the things my father always told me was that americans really take something for granted, something that is as unique in history, and that is one of the best features of our american democracy. it is that we have for over 220 years, had an orderly and peaceful transition of power of the greatest and most powerful country in the world. that doesn't happen very often. and part of the reason for that is not, just the constitution of the declaration of independence, but part of that is the electoral college. and those who want to change it have a very high burden of proof to show that we should change that kind of system that has given us this peaceful transition of powers, and they cannot meet that burden, thanks. >> john, you still have a few minutes if you would like.

>> thanks very much, and thanks to tremble for the. i'm john samples of the cute institute in washington. i've written on this subject, so i would like to tell you, you can go to the cato.org website and find my piece on the national popular vote. my criticism it but i want to say two or three things this morning about it. first of all, i'd like to recall the sort of origins of the electoral college as a way of selecting the president. you may recall that the united states is not a unified or centralized republic. it was from the beginning, an attempt to have a federal republic which included both a national government with separation of powers, and also a limiting effort, limiting power that included the states. so the state had a big role to play, and they had some of the popular sovereignty. they have power from the people, too. now, that follow through in a lot of ways in our government.

and one would it follow through was in the way of selecting the president. the way the electoral college, the electoral votes are determined by each state getting too for being a state, and according to the house representation. so the principals are really population on the one hand, plus being a state, and being a state is a federalist idea. towards the end of his life the father of the constitution, james madison comes to when we first came up with this i have my doubts about electoral college because it's a mixed system of representation. but as it is work that i think it's a pretty well and i think it's good we have both state and a population principle. now, in the united states we have been through a long period last 60 or 70 years which would diminish the role of the states in a lot of ways. and the national government has centralized and become more important but it seems to me that that has been a move that has some advantages but a lot of

disadvantages, and we've gone too far in the direction toward national government, more centralizing power. and here we see another effort, not the most important perhaps, but indeed this is an effort to create the election of a present by a national electorate into in fact get rid of the role that states play in the election of the president. because, in fact, even though the interstate compact would cast their ballots, states would still cast a ballot, they wouldn't actually have any control over the ballots. the actual determination of the president would not be made by the states but would rather be made by who won the national popular vote. selling vacuum be getting rid of the state role in this, in the election, another step away from a balanced federalism toward a centralized national government. but let me make another point about this. in fact, it seems to me that some states have a particular complaint, and perhaps half the

states have a particular complaint about the national vote undertaking. when you think about it, what is being proposed here is the group, the states that sign on to the interstate compact get to do not one thing but two things. the one thing that is explicitly proposed is those who hold, are in the interstate compact will get to elect a president, through their electoral votes, with reference to the national popular vote. so they elect the president. but when you think about it for a minute, it's also true what they get to decide, the majority of states with a majority of electoral votes, is how the president will be elected. not just who will be president but how the president will be elected. now, how the president will be elected is not a matter of anyone election for a majority rule. it's a constitutional matter, right? the rules about how we go about