>> well, good afternoon, everyone. i'm michelle easton, president of the clear booth blue policy institute. thank you for joining us, and welcome to our october conservative women's network. special thanks to our partner, the heritage foundation. we've been putting this on for years, and it's such a pleasure to work with such a fine organization as the heritage

foundation. now, i'm so happy today introduce today's speaker. i know you've seen kate on fox news where she's a passionate, articulate defender of conservative values and also one of the booth's policy institutes policy speaker for many years and speaking and mentoring young women that we've worked with for decades. she helped the institute so many times, too, and i'm grateful to you, kate, for that. she's also been in almost all great american conservative women call cars, and our 2013 calendar's out. we did it differently this year, not just beautiful women, but beautiful scenes. here's kate of march of 20 # 13 and the quote on her page is "courage is the ladder on which all over great virtues mount." kate, we love having you in the

calendar. now, kate today is going to be talking about how despite lofty claims ofupty, the left is really dividing america with radical policies. kate's not just a regular guest on fox news, but others as well. she was on larry cudlow this week, speaks all over the country, radio show, and here, we are # -- especially honored to have kate as a board of directors. she came from the university of virginia, writing for the conserve titch paper there, a student leader organizing campus events and one giant statewide event; right? >> right. >> she came to young america's foundation out of college and took a lecture program which was small and made it into the biggest, best lecture program in the country. she left for other things and came back and was the vice

president for a number of years until recently. she was the chairman of the republican party from 2003 to 2006, and in that capacity, garnered national attention leading the charge against tax increases and expanding the role of government. they have been going through pretty rough times about then. there was a scandal, one of the leaders had -- before kate -- but straitened that out and set the party's for smooth sailing. she served a senator's staff, and while she was working for governor allen, as his chief education and health adviser, she recommended me for the virginia state board of education. i was appointed to that, and worked with becky at that point because she was serving in the cabinet of george allen as well so we got to work with kate on state level issues as well. she's the author of a new book

called "divider-in-chief: the fraud of hope and change." it's selling outside, and she'll sign copies, if you like, after she speaks. kate was born into a family of conservative leaders. she resides in win jr. chester with four extraordinary wonderful children, especially the youngest daughter, one of the most gracious young ladies i've ever seen. i want her for myself, but i get to visit with her every now and then. a wonderful activist for our cause. please join me in welcoming kate. [applause] >> thank you, all, so much. it's wonderful to be here. let's talk about courage. i have to point you to the two ladies here with me. what a joy it was to get to know

becky when i worked in the allen administration during a real revolution. o great restoration, and virginia was going true a difficult time, and george allen championed the great reforms of abolishing, implementing academic standards, reforming welfare so the crazy thing where you have to work for benefits, which, now, of course, is watered down, but becky was part of the revolution. as secretary of health and human resources, there was no issue that she was unwilling to tackle, and that is a tough area for conservative. she was there on the front lines during the entire administration, and she was an inspiration for me and for a lot of other conservatives, but, particularly, for conservative women. i just thank becky for the service to the commonwealth and

the country. thank you. michelle i knew for years and years and years since i started at young america's foundation as a wee one graduating from the university of virginia, and managed to combine career and family in the most professional and noble manner, the three incredible young men as sons, and she has put the family first, her husband and boys, but she puts the cause of freedom first. that's something talking to groups of young women, i want to impress that upon you how important that is. i chose originally to stay home with my children, but to be involved. i was still on the council of higher education, but the goal was to raise my children, and then i got a crazy phone call when i had four children under five, okay? so four little people under five and under. they were five and under as my

mom points out frequently. three boys and a precious baby girl. i was so happy. life was what it was supposed to be. i got a phone call from george allen saying, hey, we need you. you need to run for state party chairman in virginia. i'm like, no. that's not happening. i am a very busy woman and happy the way it is. of course, you know george allen, you can't say no probably more than once because he doesn't give up. he fights for what he believes in, and so, finally, i thought, okay, okay, okay, ran for party chairman and spent the next three years going all over virginia fighting for conservative ideas. what i impress on you, as hard as that was as a mom of young children, i would not change it because it is so important for us to get engaged in the battle. if we don't, nobody else will. we'll passionate about

conservative and unique degree of passion because we are moms. so many of us. even if you are not moms, you are passionate. we are passionate because we want to pass liberty on, not only in pass, but expand it, to our children, our chirp's children. if you embrace the traditional role, looking forward to it, please do not think you can get out of activism and out of being involved. we need you in this battle from here on out. it's too important what we're standing up for. it's too important. i want to thank the clear booth policy institute. one of my favorite things is traveling around the country talking on college campuses because college students are on the front lines of the battle, and it is so important what you all do standing up for young conservatives and giving them the courage that they need. i did just write this new book that michelle held up "divider-in-chief: the fraud of hope and change," and i did it

because, let's see, i talked to kathryn lopez, "national review" online, and i was asked why did i write it? was it an awakening? i said, you bet it is. it stuns me that half of the american population fell for the empty montra of hope and change. the obama administration was going to be that transcendent administration that brought us all together. that is why barack obama earned the white house because he said he was going to be the great uniter. remember that beautiful inaugural address? it was glorious. he said to conservatives, i want to listen to you, especially when we disagree. okay. nice, beautiful, beautiful idea. he was going to meet with conservatives in congress once a week. that was a great idea too. he meant twice, twice, two

times. three days after that beautiful speech, the conservatives in congress came to the white house, and they had a meeting, and eric cantor, congressman from virginia, articulated the conservative perspective on increasing taxes, that we shouldn't do it. you know what obama said three days after he said i'll listen to you, especially when we disagree. he said, you lost, i won, i trump you on that. he said he wants the folks who got us into the mess to do less talking and more listening. you can talk a little bit, but i want you to be on the sidelines while we clean this up for you. unbelievable. gone was any notion of unifying the country of bringing us together. instead, there came this steady montra of attacks and vilifying of the other side. no idea. it was not an idea -- just like the 2008 campaign for president was not idea based.

it was hope and change, glorious lofty speeches, no substance whatsoever. he was going to unify us, be a post-partisan president, and, yet, almost immediately, it was conservatives are hostage takers. they are the enemy. they care only about millionaires and billionaires and not children with autism and down syndrome. now, what was this approach? why did obama and his administration come in wanting to vilifying the other side with intense hatred? it was bringing to the administration that philosophy of a community organizer. for years, obama said i'm still a community organizer, just at the national level. well, this was the one qualification that i think obama brought to the administration. if you can call it a qualification for being president, was that he was a community organizer. he was a darn good one. absolutely. he was known by his fellow

community organizers as the master of agitation. now, this is really important because this is the essence of how he views the world. obama would go into a community and identify an enemy for that community, and he would stove their animosity, fuel it, and really generate an angst, anger, and hay -- hatred. while they are riled up hating or angry at whatever he focused their attention on, he rammed through the agenda. no discussion, no need for discourt, just all based on distract everybody, get them focused on an entity, and ram through whatever you want. well, look, that's what he's done at the national level. for the past four years, there's been no philosophical back and forth. no dynamics free and open exchange of ideas. now, i wrote the book called

divider in chief, not because i'm attacking division in politics. i'm all for it. when it's based on idea, that's the premise of the country that we're free to have a vigorous exchange. they were not sitting around singing, but duking it out with a different philosophy. because they were able to have this mutual respect, not always republic, but could fight it out based on ideas and philosophy, we now live in the greatest, most prosperous nation on the face of the rert because the best ideas were able to triumph because reason combated ideas that were not that great, but that is what's happening now. we are losing the ability for reason to be free to combat bad ideas. do you hear the obama administration defending why it

works to raise taxes on small businesses or on individuals who have -- are successful, and this, from an economic standpoint, this is how we generate more income and sustain it. no, for one, it doesn't, but generates less income. it is indefensible, and so, instead of trying to articulate a defense of their economic policy, they rip us apart. they divide us. they start vilifying conservatives as hating poor people and the middle class. this whole class warfare thing, by the way, ripping us apart based on economic status, i was sitting there watching obama give a speech the other day. well, it was a couple months ago, and he said 12 times "the middle class" in the speech. what's with pigeon-holing us into the middle class? he loves says, i love to help

you americans, you little people is what he means, get into the middle class and stay there. okay, first of all, why is the president of the united states his responsibility to decide what class i should be in? i should have dreams to achieve whatever level of income and greatness that i want to. this country provides me the opportunity that i have a good shot of achieving my dreams. play by the rules, work hard, have some hootspa, and you can build it and achieve greatness. this president, instead, tears us apart and villainizes those who succeeded. you know what he says the problem is in the society? the breathtaking greed of the few. that is an amazing, amazing thing to condemn those who have achieved success in our society. we honor success in this culture, but he vilifies it so he can ram through the notion that we need to punish these

people with higher taxes. that is his justification. there's something wrong with the people. they got there through ill-gotten gains so we have to punish them. no economic rationale for it. then you have conservatives arguing for lowering taxes, since we have the highest corporate tax rate in the world, and the rationale for why that works. why, from an economic standpoint, that produces more prosperity. how it works under reagan, how jack kennedy did it and how it worked. you don't hear the same argument from the administration. they can't argue the facts because the facts do not back them up. they also can't come forward and have an honest discussion about what their objectives are. whereas conservatives will argue our objective is to elevate everybody by increasing prosperity, by unleashing the private sector from over bearing, not republican, but overbearing reasonable

government regulations so that everybody can prosper. we believe there's an unlimited ability for prosperity. the left believes that it's a fixed amount. it's a pie. everybody gets a little slice of it. it's never going to get bigger. that's not how we see things. you dente -- don't hear the left or tick-- articulating a response to the discussion because what obama wants to do is force redistribution. if he was honest about that, honest about the goals of not just equalizing everyone, but bringing them down because that's what happens when you try to equalize income. you bring everybody down. if he were to be honest about that and give a philosophical defense, the american people would reject it resoundingly. instead, he tries to turn conservatives into the enemy. let me tell you, it's incredibly effective when it's not met with powerful courageous, profound

articulation of our ideas. we have seen that when there is a vacuum on our side, that hate-filled rhetoric just rams through. i look, i want to talk, in particular, since we're with the booth policy institute, i want to talk particularly about the notion of a war on women. you know, obama doesn't -- has not just kept the hateful rhetoric to class warfare or war against women, but it's dividing young people, turning young people against old people, young people against businesses and corporations, dividing us based on our faith, dividing us, of course, based on race. it was supposed to be a post-racial presidency, and yet racial tensions are higher than ever perhaps in the country in terms of trusting one another and thinking the best of one another. he's divided us based on immigration, saying that conservatives are the enemy because we have a different

philosophy an granting amnesty and that thing. the war against women is probably the most stark example of how he's tried to pit americans against one another. now, i'll say -- i think there is a war against women happening here, but it's not coming from the conservative side. it's a shame that we're using words like "war against women," but i'll get to that in a minute. the reality is that this administration used that health and human services mandate, not to have a discussion about religious liberty and what religious organizations should be compelled to do, but, instead, to use it as an opportunity to say, "a-ha! we told you conservatives hate women." they want to take women to the stone age, deprive them of their -- they call it "reproductive justice" because they were -- conservatives do not believe religious

organizations should be compelled to provide an ?erns program that covers something against their beliefs. because of that very rationale explanation, conservatives despise women. they are engaged in an assault. this is the language they use. conservatives are involved in an assault. we are actually waging a war against women. women's health needs are increasingly under attack by conservatives. that's what they say. the language is pretty serious stuff, but my favorite example of the whole war on women montra coming from the left is congresswoman jackson-lee. she has good stuff. she is talking about this conservative, us -- get it, we are attacking women because we hate women. our assault on women, she says, quote, i think the next act by conservatives will be dragging women out of patient rooms into the streets and screaming over their bodies as they get dragged

out of getting access to women's health care. seriously? okay. seriously, that's what we are going to do? it is up believable. there's nos fact, no nothing to back up such a profoundly, misleading statement that only to insight hatred and mistrust, mistrust of our intentions and goodness so when any issue comes up in congress or the public discourse, statements like this and statements that the president has said, the administration said will nullify objections from conservatives on any issue, particularly on issues relating to anything related to women which, of course, for the left, by the way, runs the gamet between a and b, abortion to birth control. that's all we care about, according to them. it absolutely silences our side. it's pretty effective.

particularly, among conservative men and look at this, and are, like, wow, i can't talk about issues relating to women. you know what? oh, my gosh, absolutely, they have to talk about issues related to women, because they are issues that affect everybody. women are concernedded about the same thing men are concerned about, but look at what the left is saying, and how open minded and tolerant they are. hillary rosen, mentioning a -- hillary rosen said ann romney, the wife the mitt romney, that she's never worked a day in her life because she was a stay at home mom. as a stay at home mom and any mom knows, we work -- it's harder to stay home with the babies than it is to go to work. i'll tell you that. it is very tough to be a stay at home mom. how about democrat chairman --

chairman of the democrat committee in south carolina. he's on the left. he's just a profound raging liberal. dick harpootlian compared governor haley to eva brawn. did you hear anybody on their side condemn that as vicious and hate-filled? no, nothing. she has suffered, by the way, disportionally, as all conservative women do by ridiculous character assaults, attack, attack, attack. while running for governor, she was accused after having an adulterous affair. okay. ridiculous. there's not a single gram of evidence to back it up. she said if you bring up a piece of ed, i'm out of the race. nobody could bring up anything, and, yet, the liberal media insisted on putting that paragraph in every single article it wrote throughout the entire campaign to impugn her

character. it was wrong, it was an assault on women. did the president see if she was okay after dick compared her to eva? no, he did not, he called sandra fluke and her parents to see if they were okay and if they were proud? if i testifieded to my need for unlimited contraception, okay, she would not be proud. she wouldn't. that's a reasonable conversation for us to have as a country. you know, nobody else was touching that with a ten-foot pole, but the notion that women are entitled to unlimited birth control paid for by the government is an issue we have to talk about as a culture, but we're not supposed to do that. chairman -- another waging leftist, john walsh, criticized the united states senator scott brown, he's a man, but this has

a point, criticized him for, in a television ad, for folding laundry because he was trying to be an honorary girl. oh, you're not supposed to say that. bill march called sarah palin every name in the book, michele bachmann every name, david letterman has done it. my favorite, chris matthews did it again and again and again, insulting women. mark called michele bachmann mentally retarded. letterman attacked palin's daughter. she was 14, give me a break. nothing, nothing ever happened. it is profound hypocrisy. that's a theme in the book, how incredibly hypocritical the left has been in ripping this country apart. claiming to be the great champions and defender of women. yet, they'll only defend liberal women and their policies are

systematically wreaking havoc on the very groups they claim to be champ uponning. women is a perfect example. highest poverty rate in 17 years as a result of the absurd policies of the administration, the job-killing policies of this administration. the extreme poverty rate for women is at an all time high. that means those women in america living below after the poverty line, we should not have women living below half the poverty line in the country, but 7.5 million of them are. more people were not in the work force as of april 2012, 53 million women not in the work force. the administration -- no, they didn't, actually, i'm not going to go there. women are not getting the jobs back as fast as men, and on, of course, skyrocketing gas prices, skyrocketing food prices are

hitting women harder -- those women in poverty, it's hitting them harder than it is hitting men, and we don't hear any concern from this administration, no empathy about how women are suffering right now. it's all about how conservatives want to attack them. there is no discussion, no concern about the economic situation that women are currently in. it's amazing how hypocritical they will and actually treat women. they want to launch an all-out assault. talk about the boys' club. that's what the white house has been known for. it's not a secret. look in the book, it's got citations. it was known to be, particularly in the beginning, but things have not changed, the boys' club. anita done, the white house communications directer, said she was, quote, shocked to find

that white house in 2008 had more toot with antics than feminism. the head of the adviser to the president said she felt like, quote, a piece of meat in the oval office. christina romer. women said they felt invisible in meetings with obama. they felt dominated by the men in the room, and obama's deference to them. she says, quote, looking back, this place would be in court for a hostile workplace because it fit all classic legal requirements for a hostile workplace to women. now, when women, a senior staffer went to barack obama to complain about an attitude towards women, his rough and chauvinistic manner, you know what obama's response was? look, i really need rahm. that was his response. then, as the environment

continued to detier race, obama got the women staffers together to have a dinner with them to address their concerns p. okay. the meeting began with obama looking at the watch saying, "are there concerns i need to know about?" that's how concerned he was. i love your expressions. they are great. i wish they could be seen there. hignored the concerns of women who are going to be affected negatively by obamacare, all of the taxes that are going to hit the middle class, the medicine cabinet tax, the limitations on what to put in the flex spending accounts, but it is also the way in which obama patronized women that is so offensive and belies what complete hypocrisy the war on women is. a former cnn anchor had a great piece about how paternalistic

the president and the administration are towards women. he said, he makes reference to how women are smarter than men. it's all so tired, that kind of fake praise showered upon ones who those think are easy to impress. he said he is having a hard time connecting with tens of millions of americans, many who are are losing hope. they are employing a tone that come across as grading and condescending. i love this part. most women don't want to be patted on the head or treated as wards of the state. they want a chance to succeed based on talents and skills. isn't that so, so true? yet, we are being treated as though we are wards of the state or we should be. the life of julia on president

obama's website. the notion, and, by the way, it was not the life of bob. please, take that into account. it was the life of julia to suggest that women in particular need the hand of government from cradle to grave, reaching down and helping us so that we can achieve some level of happiness. without the government, we can't do it. by the way, there's no man in the life of julia. she had a child, poof, but the man nowhere to be seen. the fish needs a bicycle thing. an association of obama, an adviser to obama said, "women are not concerned about what's happened over the last four years." i beg to differ. we are really concerned about what happened over the last four years. i was particularly appalled at something on obama's website, i

think, it was last week. it came down quickly after the outrage by conservatives, but this whole notion of support, this administration, quote -- i'm sorry, it's rude, support the administration, quote, like your lady parts depend on it. that was on our president's website. it was a cartoon. you can find it all over the web if you want confirmation he did this. i love dana. she tweeted out shortly after that, you know, i support the administration like one of my lady parts depends on it. we conservatives call it a brain. [laughter] i know. it was such a punch. it's incredibly patronizing to diminish women in the way, and to assume their concerns are ire relevant. that's what the administration had to do in order to ram through the philosophy. i don't have to get into it because i'm passionate about it,

and how the president is completely ignoring and truly enabling the real war against women that's happening in muslim countries around the world. he talks about one of the primary foreign policy objectives is to ensure reproductive justice around the world. in all nations around the world. that means abortion on demand around the world. yet, do you hear him condemn islamic nations that will not allow a woman to set foot outside her doorstep without a male chaperon? no, you never do. you hear him condemn what's going on in afghanistan where we shed our blood? he never defends these girls who have acid thrown on them because they go to school now. the notion that this ruling, religious party, religious group in afghanistan just issued a mandate, and a proclamation that men are fundamental and women are secondary. the president of afghanistan end dors -- endorsed that ruling.

did this president ever use in his enormous power and influence to say that's an assault on women, on their dignity, on their basic rights? never. there's been dead silence from this administration. the state department said they are not going to be involved -- they said, quote, gender issues take a backseat to other priorities. there's no way to be successful if we maintain every special interest and pet project. you know, women are slaughtered around the world in the name of islam; yet, this president says nothing about it. what kind of hypocrisy is that? to suggest that conservatives want to assault the rights of women, simply because they want to protect the rights of religious organizations to be able to practice and live out their faith. that is appalling. the reason he's doing it, and the reason i wrote the book is to impress upon the american people that there is a goal

behind all of this. there is a goal to force through a radical agenda, but there's the girl that troubles me more than that. as troubling as it is, to silence half the population, whoever does not agree with them. barack obama does it, and the administration, they don't want to get into the messiness of democracy, that back and forth upon which we are founding. i will tell you this, i think obama administration's conduct and the way they try to divide us and rip us apart is a ringing endorsement for conservatism and the fact our ideas triumph every time they are put in direct contrast to the left's ideas. don't ever think that he's not articulating his ideas because he doesn't have them. the obama administration and the leftists within have a very definite agenda. they have ideas. they cannot talk about them

because they would be rejected by the american people. their ideas belie this incredible and inherent arrogance and the government and the intellectual and liberal elite. over that of hard working americans. i know that this country is better than that. i pray that that 50% of the american people that are lulled into complacency or convinced that conservatives are filled with hate and rage, i pray that they look into what we believe, and that they will cease to be convinced by this bankruptcy on the left, these sheer, these vicious tactics of the destroys, really, our character, destroying our motives and who we are, and that the american people will, instead, wake up and say, wait a minute, there's no ideas talked about here other

than on the side of conservatism, and there must be something very menacing that they are trying to hide. i thank clare booth blue institute and the heritage foundation to make sure those ideas will eventually triumph. thank you, all, so much, god bless you. [applause] >> what a great talk and great book and those watching on c-span, read this book, buy the book. >> share it with others. >> the one insight that hit me, i mean, i watched this as closely as anyone, but when you said "they want to keep us in the middle class" -- >> i know. >> i flash back to last night's 90-minute debate, and a simpton who said "middle class" over and over again. most con receivertives are middle income. it's a great thing. >> exactly. >> we aspire, us to be higher income. it's to keep us middle income. that is the key to socialism,

really. when you go to europe, they talk about we need to all be middle class. truth is, great, if they want to keep us, that's an insight, kate. >> why shouldn't we all be affluent if we want to be. whatever you want, you should be able to achieve that. >> bring us all down to middle income. >> right. >> terrific. we have a microphone here. i'll let you call on people -- two microphones, yes. if you don't mind, give your name and affiliation and speak into the mrch so -- mrch so it's recorded on c-span. >> love the hands shooting up. castro said he wanted to help everybody -- it's not just obama, but the administration that wants to keep people pigeon-holed in the middle class. >> i'm nicole, intern at the heritage foundation. what advice could you give to argue with young women in their

20s who were brainwashed by the other side. what do you say to convince them otherwise? >> talk to them about ideas. question them. i mean questioning people is probably the best way to get them to wake up. just talking to them again and again until eyes glaze over does not work. you have to ask questions why do you believe that? why? realize this. you all who are so young realize what's happened on the college campuses. you have been brainwashed, literally, not just in college, but grade school, middle school, high school. you have been totally, utterly brainwashed. there's speech codes on college campuses where if you stand in the square or circle, you can say whatever you want, you have first amendment rights. outside of that, you are bound by a campus speech code if you violate it, you can be sent to sensitivity training. what you want to say to the young women is going to shock them.

it can be insulting to perse -- persecuted groups, but it does not counted white conservative women or white men or christians or jews, but everybody else is subject to the speech codes. what i said, if i made an offhand comment about sandra fluke, when i say that on college campuses, and even conservatives, there's a collective gasp because i'm not allowed to say that on college campuses. they want to shut us down. it's a painful process to try awaken them. you must. talk to them. look for issues to find consensus on. that was reagan's way to bring people to the perspective. don't go in there with thee most insinned yarr issue that the nation is split on and bring that issue to bring people to conservatism. talk about free market economics, lowering that -- this is the one argument to start

with, how ronald reagan, when he was president, with a democratic congress, by the way, how he lowers that highest income tax bracket from 70% -- it was 70%! the government somehow thought they had a right to 670% of the -- 70%. barack obama thinks it's 40%, but that's just the beginning. 70%, reagan lowered it to 28%, and the left said, oh, my gosh, the government will not have revenue, what about the deficit? income to the federal government, revenue to the federal government doubled. doubled for that income tax bracket. it works. why does that happen? because more people were free to try to achieve prosperity. there was more assets in the private sector for businesses to grow and expand, and businesses were encouraged. regulations were rolled back. prosperity was encouraged and ensued. use those facts that are

irrefutable and present them. they will see the great awakening taking place and give them books to open their mind, about relevant topics that people talk about, and they will read them. young people come to conservatism by books of sean hannity and others. that's the first introduction to con seventism. share books with them. yes? >> hi, i'm hellen, an intern at the heritage foundation. you said "skyrocketing prices hit women more than men." >> yeah. >> there's a piece on marriage, how that reduces child poverty saying the leading cause is because there's an absence of married fathers in the home. is that tied to what you meant when you said if hits women more? >> yes. i was talking about the high rate of poverty among women

right now. women who are not in poverty are right above the poverty line. obviously, gas prices have doubled over the past -- more than doubles over the past four years. good grief. in some places, it's a tripling of gas prices. devastating to a single mom, three kids, trying to get them to school, get to work. that's actually something that can stop them in their tracks. it's completely debilitating. the cost of food for the women on the line of poverty or in poverty, but absolutely the absence of fathers in home, the absence of two-parent families has to do with increasing levels of poverty among women. that is one of the best indicators of set is -- of success is whether or not you're married and stay married. there's the literal explosion in this administration in

entitlement programs. we are not supposed to talk about that either because that makes us racist or sexist. we have got to talk about that. a society that is somehow dependent upon its government. we were westerned that once a majority of the american people are dependent on the government, the democracy is in pearl. we have to wake up to that fact. we are not saying half the population is lazy, by the way, but saying the government is trying to ensnare and slave them on dependency of government. government does not scale back willingly. we have to do it. government is greedy. they want people dependent upon is because it knows best. that's what the left thinks. we have to champion rights of individuals to have the opportunity for prosperity. watering down welfare requirements that this administration has done is an assault, an assault. i'll use that word, on those who are in poverty because it discouraging them from seeking

independence. suggest that running errands for a neighbor qualifies as work. i don't think so. that's not real reform. yes? >> i'm katherine rodriguez. i know you know this, and at institute, we know this too, and the students in the room may also have experienced this, but sometimes being a con e servetive campus activist, even as a woman feels a lonely thing confronted with feminists around you, and for some reasons, it's like women need an extra push. i wonder if there's words of support or encouragement to offer to women here and those watching. >> absolutely. women do need to have the extra push. when i was elected -- some women, not all of them. when i was elected chairman of the republican party of virginia, i didn't think anything of being the first woman.

i really didn't. that's rude of me. i didn't think anything. whatever. the media went nuts, of course, and when i was called "chairman," they thought it appalling. i went around the state, met with the tour, getting to know you, and everywhere i went, women came up to me, literally in tears saying, "i never thought i would see the day when a woman was chairman of the republican party of viers." completely changed my thinking about women in leadership roles, women standing up for what they believe in, and i realize sometimes we, women, need an extra push. i started this immediately after that. i started leadership training programs for women. on the first day of the class, i asked how many of you would consider running for office someday? one little timid hand went up. i asked, why not? what's with you guys? why not run for office? the response was universally, i like being a supportive role. i get that. it's a very natural place for women. nurturers.

i want to be a supportive role. conservatism needs to promote women. they are the majority of the american population, and we need women if our ideas are going to triumph. consequently, women need to be involved and in leadership positions because when you look on the tv, you flip through, but there's just white men representing conservatism, that's a turnoff for women. we want to see people who like we are and get introduced to new ideas that way. we have to champion our women. it is a very lonely thing to be a conservative woman, period, on campus or not. that's why these groups are so important because we need that support. we need the defense because sometimes our conservative brethren are not always running to our defense like they need to. offering sarah palin up is a great example. i don't care what people think,

conservatives, whether they love her or not, defend her. she's out -- when she's attacked for personal reasons, defend her. when michele bachmann is brutally rippedded to shreds by some of the comedians, that's their excuse, defend her. she's one of the smartest women in congress. she is courageous. she has stuck her neck out. these women are sticking necks out. we have a precious girl, friend of ours who is an activist at azusa pacific, ashley blackwell, trying to start up a young americans for freedom chapter, and the school crashed down and said, no. you may not start a chapter because we find things on their website on offensive. that's hysterical they let leftist start, but not young americans for freedom. she is suffering right now. she's been assaulted by all sides. she is a courageous young woman. there was a piece yesterday on foxnews.com. it was great.

ashley blackwell, but we ran to her defense, and america's foundation. it's important that we conservatives stand up. it's important that conservative women have a spine of steel and the skin of an armadillo. we need you engaged in the battle. you will be called every name in the book. prepare yourself for it. you know what that means as margaret thatcher said? i'm immensely encouraged when they call me names because that means they have not a single argument left. look at you smiling, that's what we need to do. it is your moment when the attacks begin. you can either run from the arena, which is their objective because conservative women are a tremendous threat, and this whole war on women is intended to get us out of the arena. those of us who champion our ideas, particularly, we women. when that attack comes, you have a choice. you can flee or you can stand strong. you can weather the attacks and

still, at the end, be standing. people will respect you. they will listen to your ideas, and you will have furthered freedom. you will have had this tremendous impact. remember our founding fathers, and all they were willing to suffer. up to death. they were subject to treason. they committed treason, but they were willing to stand up for what they believe in. i hope we're not going to have to stick our necks out to death, but look, we women conservatives are in a very similar position to that of the founding fathers where we are sticking our necks out, not for publicity, not for money, but for the great god-given notion of freedom because we believe it is worthy of our defense. call me any name you want. it pails in comparison to what the mission is in promoting and protecting freedom for my children. bring it on.

yes, sir? >> i write for the pakistani spectator. i worked on the hill, you worked on the hill, and shea la jackson is a tough lady. i remember after september 11, she was the only one who opposed of a war in afghanistan, and today, you can see that we are spending $2 billion -- >> yeah. >> what are we getting? you think this lady has special insight that whole country was unable to see but she perceived that what would be the end. >> right. >> i'm from that part of the world, and i feel we invest all our money in that part. >> okay. >> pakistanis generals are becoming millionaires. >> thank you for the question. >> i live 14 blocks from here, and i experience that, except, you know, few ladies --

[inaudible] >> i'm sorry, but i'm getting the time look in the back. what's the question? >> you are getting upset? >> no. i need the question because we have to wrap up. >> my question is that there's in some sense, in terms of going to church. >> okay. >> and in terms of -- >> who is they? >> african-american -- >> oh, right. >> how can we -- >> absolutely, which is one point why it's absurd that -- i'll take it from there. one reason why it's absurd in whole notion that conservatives are out to get african-americans. you look at how it's another group that's been systematically undermind by this administration's economic policies. your know what? sheila jackson-lee and others in the black congressional caucus two years ago stood up and say this is not working. this administration's policies

are not working. they are hurting blacks. they are hurting poor people. you know what barack obama said? he said, enough is of this whining. take off your bedroom slippers and put on your marching shoes. that was extreme arrogance and condolence session by the man who claims to be the champion of young african-americans. all groups are suffering under the obama administration. such disregard. he has no empathy for the suffering of americans nor willing to engage in a philosophical confers about the economic policies that got us into the mess in the first place. thank you, all so much for being here. i look forward to seeing you and talking to you afterwards, but thanks so much for being here, and thank you to the booth and heritage foundation. [applause] >> kate has been a speaker so many times, our usually gifts

don't work. >> i love them. >> we have a copy of the original "the women," the play that we wrote. have you seen this? >> i've never seen it. >> you'll love it. >> it's a wonderful play, you know, written decades ago. it is still produced, a recent redo of the movie. it's not -- the entire cast is women. there's not a man in the play, but the play is all about men. we know about that. >> thank you. >> and then just a little box of chock lats for a wonderful lady. >> thank you very much, so much. >> kate, on behalf of the heritage foundation, we have a few items we want to give to you. you know, our own ed meis, former attorney general of the united states oversaw the production of the heritage guide to the constitution. this is a book that is good for women as well as men -- >> yes.

>> and a great reference for you. we wanted -- ed signed it for you. >> oh, great, thank you. >> i just wanted to mention as we close out today that mrs. thatcher's birthday is this weekend. >> oh. >> we have for you a poster -- come up to the front here so everybody can see it. we have a poster for you and show kate here -- >> beautiful. >> my two favorite people. >> we have a poster for everyone here today. great. >> it looks like this. we have for you a copy of the speech mrs. thatcher gave on courage. she gave it, interestingly enough, at a heritage foundation vermont. the occasion was the presentation of the clare booth institute awards to ronald reagan. all these things come together. we have a lady of courage today speaking to women and men of courage and stand of principle

and give gifts that honor our two favorite heros, margaret thatcher and ronald reagan. >> thank you, becky. >> thank you, michelle. thank you, kate. it's a privilege to work together over the last number of years to actually have this network monthly event bringing together outstanding women leaders and future leaders, mostly women, but the occasional man who is welcome too. now we'd like to 1k you to join us for lunch autoin the lobby, and thanks for the interns who had the microphone today. >> the book signings. >> oh, yeah, kate has books and happy to sign. >> thank you. >> thank you. >> here with craig smith, author of "counting the days: pows and strag leers of world war ii in the pacific."

look at six different p.o.w.s in the pacific theater. tell us about that. >> thee were president of the japanese or presidents of the americans. it was of interest to talk about both sides of the conflict. >> how long were they held and where? >> the americans were held for the duration of the war so that was less than four years. a young gentleman captured in guam, was in japanese prison examples. the other was a slave labor in a steel mill. that was a very, very difficult time. lucky to come out of that alive. interesting one on the japanese side, i met and knew a japanese

straggler. they were elected to stay in the jungle after the war was over on the island of guam, stayed there with another guy until 1960. he came out 15 years after the end of the war, went back to japan a hero, had a movie made about him and all of that. by a course of fate, i happened to find his diary, a long lost diary, and, actually, here in washington. i was able to return it to him some years later, and i gave back the long lost diary, a very emotional thing as you could imagine. >> you looked at prisoners from both allies' side and the japanese. how were they treated differently? were they treated differently? >> well, yes, they were treated very differently. the americans, of course, were treated very brutally, not much food, no medicine, hard labor, a

lot of beatings, physical beatings, things of that, and that was due to the japanese military training which taught that it was disloyal to surrender, death was preferredded to surrender so american p.o.w.s were not considered honorable men and treated that way. on the other hand, of course, the u.s. treated the japanese in accord with the geneva convention hoping that led to better treatment of american prisoners. the biggest difficulty was that early on they wanted to commit suicide. they didn't -- for the very reasons i mentioned earlier. they thought being captured was dishonorable, and they wanted to, actually, in many cases, begged the americans to let them commit suicide. finally, the treatment they received, for the most part, swayed them the other way, and the guys i writ