about president bush in 2004 which ultimately brought along -- brought about the downfall of dan rather. ladies and gentlemen stick around, this will be fun. please welcome, robertñr blooey and the panel for saving through technology. . .

over the course of the past three years we have made a big shift from relying solely on newspaper op-ed and tv to get the message out, essentially relying on the mainstream media. now can communicate directly with conservatives through blogs, through "the morning bell" and we have a robust facebook page. through twitter and youtube. so many ways to use technology to communicate and bypass the mainstream media. it is phenomenal. we have four people joining us to talk about that. our first speaker is the ceo of redstate.com. [applause]

it is one of the largest on- line communities of on-line activists. it is the most widely read blog in chapel hill. his an attorney in macon, georgia. conservatives' regular look to him for insight and political activism. when he endorses a candidate it makes national news because of his influence. we are delighted to have erick talk to us today about the growth of his blog and what you can do to be more active. [applause] >> they changed things on you. saving freedom through technology. the first step is we took the president's teleprompter for this event so that he cannot speak for the next few days.

render him as a mute as rahm emanuel was when his middle finger got cut off. my bio needs to be updated. i'm no longer a lawyer. i am recovering. sitting freedom through technology. i want to take the opposite approach. technology is no panacea. it is the ideas that matter. look for example of what happened in colorado. much has been written about the model they're democrats put it in the place. the democrats put up a bunch of organizations outside the democratic party in color. they ata blog network, think tanks to come up with ideas.

they came up with other sides to attack republicans. th were ableey to sweep the state. this has become a model for the democrats. the same thing happened on the national level. they built up a lot of technology. i will tell you that had obama made it 0 on the internet he would probably have still been president because of dynamics. they built up these media matters -- the guys who can get jobs anywhere else are funneled over to media matters. they subsidize them there. the left is all about subsidizing bad things. but now we see that they one and the dirty little secret is the cannot govern. they're falling apart in my card. democrats are about to be swept out of power as fast as they were swept into power. [applause]

then there is washington, d.c. where just this week there was an article in the paper that the wheels are coming off. after one year in office the obama administration has not figured out how to do with anything. they tend to give amateur results. leave national security to our professionals like dick cheney. there is something the left understood. there is a vast online community. people from all over the world. i run redstate out of my house in the macon, georgia. i don't work in washington or new york. it is the miracle of the internet. you don't need to be there to have a twitter or facebook account.

i encourage those of you without a twitter account to get one. twitter has been talk about more this year than ever. i am sure there are number of you wondering. check it out. every once in a while i can't can say something really dumb on there that are entertaining. we are on an equal playing field on them. the left will not win on the radio. who wants to listen to that for three hours per day? i mean, i air america has shut down and gitmo is still open. [applause] take technology, the community of activists in this room, put all of you on line, a few into talk radio. we have a significant advantage we have not fully exploited.

it is a beautiful message, online and the radio together. we have fox news, i guess. imagine the way to collaborate on line to fight the left to beat them at their own game. it is not that hard. we just have to do it. we can together beat the left. we will beat them this year, and in 2012 they better watch out. thank you. >> thank you. our next speaker is jonathan who has been with town hall from the founding in 1995, taking over as editor in 1998. he became editor in chief and continued in that capacity since town hall was acquired in 2006.

salem and just yesterday made it official that they are now in partnership inhotair.com -- in hotair.com he has also worked for the leadership institute. >> thanks, rob. it is a pleasure to be here in front of all of you. this is probably the biggest crowd i've seen. there are still probably a thousand college students whose luggage is still up there in the lobby. good luck getting your rooms. [laughter] as my first cpac, it was within the first week or two of town hall. we were only on copy serve. the crew consisted of three of

us sitting in the back with museum-grade computers. may be worse than that. operating a chat room on conservatives room on600 participants. the transcript went moderator, the senator will begin a speech about term limits. the participant wo forn. participant two, senator ashcroft is the best. participant 3, we need more leaders like him. they could not see or hear it. it was a very antiquated version of the live bloggin that happens. the blog emerging after 9/11 -- several dozen critical gotch youtube videos that killed politician careers and facebook along the way.

it is dramatically transforming the way that they do business and interact. not long ago mustangs were produced as a three-page research papers. maybe once per week. there were delivered to capitol hill. -- it is not that long ago that those were produced. there was a stacked was that big. now it is all whole nother world. it is presented in a shorter format, dense. e-mailed and passed around. the heritage foundation confirms this. in 2005 they looked at 90 research papers. the average length was 32 pages. in 2009 the published nearly

600 more convinced analyses. there is no way. we would all be collecting our obamacare cards right now. if i were not for heritage and others being able to react they today. the public option is in, out, medicare is in, out, so on and so forth. the ubiquitous nature of the web in our lives -- probably one- third of the audience is tweeting right now. 100 of you probably 10 minutes ago said thecheney just did a surprise attack on cpac.

it is transforming the way you are all in the rectum. -- the way you are all interacting. there really is no longer, washington is no longer this far off land. erick is running one of the biggest sites on the web from macon, georgia. i have not yet figured that one out. we are no longer sending our elected officials off to washington, d.c. with no accountability. they still often go squishy but there is a level of accountability now that we have never had before. the tea party is not funded -- and probably could not have overcome the hurdles before. without certain websites many activists would not have had any

idea how to find out where their local town hall meetings were this past summer. imagine if two-thirds of those people never found their town hall meetings. where would we be today? i would venture to guess we would havec our wouldare cards by now. cpac itself, there is no coincidence that the rise of the web coincided with what is estimated to be by the end of the weekend over 10,000 people with cpac. -- i would venture to guess we would have our obamacare cards by now. i often ask how we did this before hand. i was told there would be thousands here. things have certainly changed. the evolution of the blogosphere and increase in the

activists organizing has increased a committee of watchdogs and penance. there was a time that there are only five or six pennants. now you have an opportunity. -- as we had only five or six pundits. [laughter] there are now 100 or so bloggers up on the balcony tracking every moment of this. we are not letting it just be told by "the washington post." speaking of the loggers that rob alluded to, i cannot ignore the town hall situation -- for many years we have admired the work of michele malkin, ed morrissey,

and although pendants with hot air. in four years they have grown from the new kid on the block it to easily been one of the most popular conservative blocks out there. salem and town hall have been in the battle over values for many years. bringing hot air seems completely natural. you can count on it stay in the best it is now. it will only get bigger. that will be with the radio platform. if you have not been to hotair.com i strongly encourage you to do so. it has been my first read every morning for a number of years. whether it is because conservatives have finally figured out the web, ori the,es

with obama have finally united us -- there has never been the kind of concerted energy online as now -- or whether at the liefties have you done to us. we are certainly hiring. thanks very much. [applause] >> thank you, jonathan. our next speaker, mark, the editorial page editor of "the washington examiner." he is a member of the international media freedom hall of fame. he is also a founding member of newstrust.net. he was awarded the conservative journalist of the year award in 2008 at cpac. [applause]

>> thank you, rob. i'm just sitting here listening to these and looking out all over the audience. i loved cpac, my gosh. it is like woodstock every year. except we have a natural high because we're right. [applause] one other thing i have noticed that i hesitate to mention -- the crowds look younger and younger to me. it just dawned on me the reason is because in the oldest guy appear. i'm so old that i remember when tucker was an intern at the heritage foundation. he did not shave it back then either. [laughter] i want to talk just briefly about, we have had, i think, in

some quarters of the conservative and ever a feeling that young people are naturally liberal. therefore, all we can do is just wait until they turn 30. youçó know, encounter real life. i know that is what happened with my kids. i not think that is true, and i want to tell you why. i want to tell you also why i absolutely believe that because of the internet and what it has done with the net generation -- i will not say it is inevitable, but i have never in my entire life than more confident that we are going to seek a new birth of freedom in this country. it is coming soon. [applause] there is a book written by a fellow named don tapscott.

i know that he is not a relative. number one, he is from canada. number two, he is a socialist. my wing of the family does not permit socialists. he has done more research about the demographics and beliefs of the millennials. he has written a book highly encourage you to read. it is called "grown up digital." read a chapter three about the eight most important values of the net generation. number one, freedom. freedom to do what they want, to buy what they want, when they want it, where they want it. the freedom to be entrepreneurial.

you cannot have barack obama and harry reid and nancy pelosi running the country when the young people believe in freedom. they do. [applause] #two, someone just said the free stooges. customization. and i know i'm taking too long here. they expect products to be tailored to their individual needs. scrutiny. they cannot get enough information. they expect people to be open and transparent about what they're offering. that eliminates barack obama. integrity. if scrutiny did not eliminate rahm, this one does. they expect honesty.

collaboration. they love working together. they are empowered to do so by the internet. they don't need bureaucrats in washington to tell them what to do. they expect work to be fun. i am still working on that one. i worked in a newsroom. speed. let's do it now. but all have time to wait three years. finally, most important, the innovation. innovation is a way of life for them because of the internet. have you ever seen an innovative government program? they do not exist. my friends, the younger generation is why we are going to win. the internet has given us the tools to bring them in, and to show them that of the weight of

freedom is what we are offering. thank you. [applause] >> thank you, mark. our next speaker tucker is a contributor to fox news channel. he previously hosted programs on cnn and msnbc. he was the youngest anchor. he hosted open "crossfire." he has reported from around the world. he has been a columnist. he currently writes for several magazines. please give a warm welcome to tucker carlson. >> thank you. [applause] just to clarify, i was not on

the left side of "."" thank you very much. i will keep this short. i am a compulsive talker. i'm the guy you sit next to on a plane. i will really try to keep this crisp. we have launched a sight. we have had remarkable response. we can think many people in the room. -- we have launched a site. it has been more vigorously received then i thought. i had low hopes. i am at a media mogul, like ted turner, but with better politics and not rich. i'm not a great expert on new media. my twitter machine keeps breaking. tubes fizzling out.

i want to make two points about alternatives to conventional media. two pleas. the first is to cease and desist with the phrase of the" mainstream media." this could be a good lenten project for people in this room. the problem with the phrase is it suggests anyone not in that category is not in the mainstream. that is not true. i know because i spent most of my adult life in the mainstream media. there is nothing mainstream about some of the practices in those businesses. nothing mainstream about ignoring real news. there is nothing mainstream about allowing political biases to complete the shape your editorial judgment.

that is wrong. that is propaganda. that is true. [applause] i will never forget despite many attempts to forget, going on the air the day after barack obama won. there were maybe six people on the set and the conversation proceeded as follows -- isn't it fantastic that our new president is barack obama rather than john mccain? isn't this a reflection of what a great country this is? this is 6:00 a.m. and i had not slept. i asked, wouldn't the obverse of be that if the country elected the other guy is would be a less good country? aren't you saying there's only one morally acceptable outcome

in this election? was the election on moral test? if i have literally come out and introduced myself as a priest and sacrificed a chicken on the set i don't think there would have given me a weirder look. it was not even a look of hatred or scorn, but of total bewilderment. huh? who are you? who let you out here? security, take him away. you can't think what you want. that is not mainstream. whenever people who are seeking to create alternatives to existing media refer to them as mainstream, it immediately push you into a side category. that is not the goal. the goal is to produce mainstream, honest news coverage there reflects reality. not your stupid world view.

by stupid i mean stupid. a. b. one been worth remembering it seems to me is that news outlets have to be interesting to succeed. yes, they do. the reason is, and anyone who ascribes to a market-based view of the world will agree. if it is not interesting, people will not read it, and then you go out of business unless you're taking a government subsidy. right? right. hotair.com is an interesting site. they're not embarrassed to present the news and a way to make you care about it. they don't assume that you have a moral obligation to read it. at the moment you assume that

anyone has a moral obligation to buy what you are selling, you may as well work for the post office. at that time you are assuming the powers of monopoly. you are much less. the interesting. assume that your mainstream. assume that you are representing america. do not blow yourself out and you will succeed. that is my advice. thanks for and during it. -- enduring it. [applause] >> thank you, we have time for a couple of questions. i will kick things off. erick alluded to this earlier. so many of you in this room -- how can i make more of a difference? if we could go down the panel.

just say what you can do walking out of this room today to better utilize technology. >> you know, that is easy for me to answer. take $10 out of your wallet and give it to marco rubio, then after you have given him the money, you find other candidates you like and believe in, and you fight, fight, fight to get those people liked it. republicans and democrats will never change until the grassroots rise up and say, we would like a guy who believes what we do to go to washington. [applause] >> this would probably work best in a blue state or district. find five neighbors who agree

with you on the issues and start a blog and talk about local issues, restricting spending. see if you can make a difference, then send rubio $10. >> that is actually a tough question. there are so many answers. let me suggest this -- every person in this room now can be a journalist. every one of you. all you have to do is start a blog, and then start asking questions that politicians do not want to answer. and published. you will have more fun than you can imagine. >> amen. that is great advice. yeah, i would say be informed.

take the time to learn, right? a purely emotional response is never very effective at all. weeping will not in the and help you to win the argument. as for voting i'm not an endorsement of candidates. i spend too much time around them. let me make one quick case for voting your conscience. i'm always amazed by interviewing voters who have a very complex reasons. i always feel like life is too unpredictable. you're probably better off voting conscience. if you agree with someone even if he is a long shot or considered a crackpot, who cares? vote the person you agree with

because you never feel bad i the end. >> thank you all for your advice. unfortunately, because we're running behind on schedule i will end it here. i appreciate the panelists. thank you so much for being here today. thank you, everybody. ♪ >> good afternoon. hello cpac and hello, america. i will be you mc for the next couple of hours. wow, what a difference a year makes. less then one year ago, one book and any number of pundits or

proclaiming the death of conservatism. if that were true, this would be our wake. but it is our rebirth. back in the darkest days of world war ii some nazi generals brag they would ring the neck of england like that of a chicken. several months later after the english refused to be defeated, prime minister winston churchill stood before parliament and boldly refuted the nazi braggart's with four define the words "summit chicken, some neck." in that same spirit i stand before you this afternoon at cpac and believe refute the roots of the left with these four defined words -- some death, some wake. [applause]

we're going to have a great afternoon together. to introduce our first couple of speakers is my pleasure to introduce jay, the head of americans, center for law and justice. a supreme court lawyer. he will introduce not one but two speakers in a moment. please welcome jay. ♪ >> it is great to be with you, and cpac, and in washington, d.c. it is not always easy to say that at this time of the political cycle. it is a great time to be in the washington because we are in the threshold of tremendous change. look at the situation with the supreme court. realize the next president selects probably two more.

the current president may also get two more. the fate of the supreme court is at stake. the country is at a crossroads, whether on the economic issues or issues dealing with the war, national security. we need leaders. we need leaders who know how to take a stand. leaders with vision. i am privileged to introduce a friend, someone who has the leadership, the proven capability, the vision to continue moving this country forward. when gov. mitt romney served as governor of massachusetts the called him "mr. fix it." our country needs at one of those today. [applause] this is a man who turned around the commonwealth of massachusetts. who'd turned around business enterprises.

who saved at the olympics in salt lake city. he knows how to leave. i have known him for years. i have worked with him. i always like to judge people by what they say and write. he has a great book out called "no apologies." america is great. we should be giving no apologies. the only thing that i wish i could tell you is this -- i wish this was cpac, february 2011. i wish that we were just a corner away from the next election for the presidency of the united states. i personally would love to see mitt romney as the nominee. i have known him -- [applause] i have known governor romney on the campaign trail, as a businessman, working with him on

a variety of issues. there is someone else i know. he is a new friend. he has known governor mitt romney longer than i. i want to introduce my new friend, our new friend, the new senator fromx!/ñi massachusett, scott brown. [applause] >> thank you, thank you, please set. ñiñr-- please sit.

what a wonderful reception. i'm grateful to be here with all of you. it is one of my first times out in a public event since the collection. my name is scott brown. [applause] in the newly elected republican senator from massachusetts. [applause] let me just say that one more time. in the republican senator from massachusetts. they said it could not be done. collectively we all did it. thank you very muchy veryes, the question everyone has been asking me is that drive your in the truck? yes, it is right outside.

as many of the no i was called the sacrificial lamb, the longest of long shots. one democrat -- i will never forget, the one democrat said "there is no way in myhell are republican is going to get elected to the seat once held by ted kennedy." well, here i am. for the big government spenders i'm sure that motion did not make them feel good at all. for those interested in restoring the real checks and balances and the washington. for bringing accountability and transparency back to government, it feels wonderful. i am so glad to be part of it.

looking back, i can't believe how much we accomplished. it happened so fast. i have to be honest. it is not just sinking in. to think i am scott brown from this town, and i drive a truck. here i am in washington, d.c. as the new u.s. senator from massachusetts. we collectively have changed the course of politics in america. [applause] our grass-roots campaign made headlines. and the beginning i could not have held my campaign in a phone booth. i'm here to introduce one of those guys in the phone booth with me. i've known mitt romney for many

years. i have had a great privilege of not only watching him be the governor, but serving with him. he is a unique leader with a proven set of management skills from a career spent in the business, working the olympics. and as the chief executive of the commonwealth of massachusetts. i personally know that if you want to fix a broken economy, let me give you a piece of advice. it is something i think of regularly when i think my challenges. if you want to fix something broken, especially economic policies, you have to listen to governor mitt romney. i know what he is talking about. when you get through listening to him you know what i have known for many years. he means it when he says he is committed to rebuilding the republican party. he has done it not only in

massachusetts. let me backtrack. i have been known to go off script. thank god my daughter is not behind me. [laughter] i remember when i ran for the state senate that he was the only one pushing me. he is the same person running as a u.s. senator, the first guy to push me and encouraged me. as i began, a lot of doors in the washington closed to me. mitt was there with money, expertise, but he held fund- raisers for me. he kept encouraging me to plow ahead. to keep believing. he saw in the beginning that i had a chance. for that i am so thankful.

for the fact that i could do it. it was my kids, my wife, senator mccain, mitt romney and a handful. let me tell you that is my pleasure to introduceñr one of e republican lights. a man i once called my governor. now i am even more proud to call him my dear friend. please welcome mitt romney. [applause] çó let me tell you, hey guys, the

conservative movement is alive and well right here. hey. wow. well, once again the people you do not know or coming are even more excited than the ones you did know are coming. thank you so much. please. jay is billion. i have to have him go with me everywhere. and scott brown -- i take him anywhere i can. they are national heroes and real treasures for our country. but have made real contributions. one of defending the constitution, the other making sure we keep it strong and well for years to come. it is good to be back with you. i love coming to cpac. this is a great audience. i frankly can't think of any place i would rather be than to be with you guys and talk about the things we believe in. i had a great weekend. i spent the weekend in vancouver at the olympic games, yeah.

you canadians to, yeah. as always, the games were very inspiring. you probably did not hear the news this morning -- late breaking, the gold medal won last night by lindsey bonn was stripped. it has been determined that president obama was going downhill faster than she has. our conservative movement took a real hit in 2008 elections. the victors were not exactly gracious in their big win. the media had there legs

tingling. time magazine had a picture declaring that we, the republican elephant, were an endangered species. the new president claimed a change of biblical proportions. he had everything he needed to deliver. they won. you learn a lot about people when you see how they react to losing. we did not serve up excuses or blame fellow citizens. instead we listened carefully. we sharpen our thinking. we spoke with greater persuasiveness. we take our message to journalists. and in the great american tradition some even brought attention to our cause with rallies and tea parties. [applause] i know that we have all watched

very intently to as the conservative come back began in the virginia and exploded on to the scene in new jersey. as a massachusetts man, who like my fellow bay staters has understandably been regarded as somewhat suspiciously. let me take a moment to exult in the victory of scott brown. [applause] for that victory, that stopped obamacare, and turn back the liberal tide, we have something to say you never thought you would hear. thank you, massachusetts. [applause]

2009 was the president's turn to suffer losses. not just the ballot box, but in the bill after bill in the congress. most importantly, in his failure to recognize that the economy needed to be reignited in a powerful, effective way. also, how he has responded to his defeats tells us a great deal about him. and his team. as you recall, he began by saying [unintelligible] he gave himself up that b plus. tell that to four million americans who lost their jobs last year and millions more who stopped looking for work. explain to world wide financial markets. square that with the absence of any meaningful sanctions against iran.

his self-proclaimed b + will go down in history sends the invention of the internet. --since then. unable to convince us that his value was a success he turned to the second dodge. tried to pin the blame on someone else. did you happen to see his state of the union address? he did on the one group in the room restrained from responding. the supreme court. the president found it inexplicable that the first amendment right of free speech should be granted not just to labor union corporations and media corporations, but equally to all corporations, big, medium, small. when it was over i think most americans felt as i did. his noisy critique and bombast did not register as clear and

convincing the as just asalito's silent lips form in these words "not true." [applause] -- as a justice alito's words. next he blamed republicans in the room. he lectured us on the workings of the budget process. he went on to blame republicans for the gridlock. he knows as well as everyone in the country that not one single, solitary republican vote in either house is required to pass legislation. or it was not until he got elected. it was democrats who blocked him. democrats who said no to his liberal agenda after they had been home to their districts and heard from the americans.

when they felt the heat and they saw the light. god bless every american who says no. [applause] of course, the president accuses us of being the party of no. it is as if he thinks that might say no is by definition a bad thing. in fact it is right and praiseworthy to say no to bad things. to sayno to cap and trade, to government health care, to higher taxes. [applause] my party can never be a rubber- stamp for rubber check spending. before we move away from this no epithet, was asked the obama folks what they say no to a balanced budget, to malpractice

reform, to missile defense, to prosecuting mohammad in a military tribunal, to tax cuts and creating jobs. you see, we conservatives do not have a corner on say no. we're just the ones who say it when it is the right thing to say. [applause] of course, that leads us to the group he has most recently çócharged with being culpable fr his failures. the american people. it seems we have failed to understand his wise plans for us. if he just slows down, makes a concerted effort to explain in words we can understand, if we just listen better, then we will get it. actually, americans have been listening attentively. they have been watching. when he barred c-span from

covering the health care deliberations, they saw president obama break his promise to transparency. when the democratic leadership was in power to bribe nebraska senator nelson, they saw obama break his promise. when he cut a special and unconstitutional deal with the unions, they saw him not just break his promise, they saw the most blatant and reprehensible manifestation of political chaos in modern memory. [applause] no, mr. president, the american people did not hear and see too little. they sought to much. here again, with all due respect, president obama fails to understand america. he said "with all the lobbying and horse-ñrtrading, the process

left most americans wondering what's in it for me/" that is not all they're asking. they are asking what is in it for america. obamacare is bad care for america. [applause] now, when it comes to shifting responsibility for failure, however, no one has been a more frequent objector to obama's approached and president bush. it is wearing so thin that it is a regular jokes on late-night tv. i'm convinced that's history will judge president bush far more kindly. [applause]

you will recall he pulled this from a severe and deepening recession after 9/11. he overcame a teachers' unions. he took down the taliban in afghanistan and waged a war against jihadists. [applause] and he kept us safe. [applause] pet

on his record. i understand the loyalty that comes from our "i don't give a damn vice-president dick cheney. [applause] i am afraid after all the finger-pointing is finished it has become clear who was responsible for president obama's lost year. president obama and his fellow democrats. when it comes time to pin the blame, pin the tail on the donkeys. now there has been a good deal of conjecture about the cause of

president obama's failures. as he frequently reminds us, he assumed the presidency at a difficult time. that is the reason we argued during the campaign these were not times for on-the-job training. [applause] had he or his advisers -- even spent a few years in the real economy, there would have learned the number one cause of failure of small and large businesses and the private sector is lack of focus. and the first rule of turning around any troubled enterprise is focus. when he assumed the presidency, his energy should have been focused on fixing the economy, creating jobs, succeeding and led the fight against radical afghanistan and iraq, and keeping us safe. instead he applied time and political capital to an ill- conceived takeover of health care. he failed to focus. he failed.

there was an even bigger problem. ronald reagan used to say something like this about liberals -- it is not that they are ignorant. it is just that what they know is wrong. [applause] too often, what he knew was wrong. he acknowledged the government does not create jobs. only the private sector can do that. the government can create the conditions, environment, which leads the private sector to add employment. but then considered not just what he said, but what he did it in the last year, and ask yourself, did it help or hurt the environment for investment and growth and job creation? announcing the 2011 tax increase in capital gains hurt.

capping trade hurt. giving trial lawyers of repass a purge. holding on togm stock and calling the shots they're hurt. making a grab for health care almost one-fifth of our economy hurt. [chanting "hurt"] president obama instituted the most anti-growth measures we have seen in our lifetimes. he called his agenda ambitious. i called it reckless. [applause] he's scared employers. jobs were scarce. his nearly $1 trillion stimulus created not one new job in the private sector.

it is saved and grew jobs in the government sector. the one place that we should haveshed jobs. because he has been unwilling or unable to define the road ahead, uncertainty and lack of predictability prolongs this. america is not better off than it was $1.80 trillion ago. [applause] will the economy and unemployment recover? of course, thanks to the vibrant and innovative citizenry of america bankthey always do. this president will not deserve the credit. he has prolonged the recession. . .

. the people of america are looking to conservatives for leadership, and we cannot fail them. conservatism has had, from its inception, vigorously positive, intellectually rigorous agmnda and thinking. that agenda should have three pillars -- strengthen the economy, strengthen security, strength in our families. we will strengthen the economy

by simplifying and lowering taxes, by replacing regulation with up-to-date regulation, by opening markets to american goods, by strengthening our currency and capital markets, and by investing in basic science and research. instead of leading the world in how much we borrow, it is important we lead in how much we build, create, and invest. [applause] we will strengthen our security by building missile defense, restoring our military might, and standing by and strengthening our intelligence officers. [applause] conservatives believe in providing constitutional rights to our citizens, not to enemy combatants. [applause]

on our watch, the conversation with a wood-be suicide bomber will not begin with "you have the right to remain silent." [applause] our conservative agenda strengthens our families in part by putting our schools on track to be the best in the world. because great schools start with great teachers, we will insist on hiring teachers from the top third of college graduates. we will give them better pay. we will put parents and teachers back in charge of education, not the ceos of the teachers' union. [applause] strong families have excellent health care. getting health care coverage for the uninsured should be

accomplished at the state level, not a one size fits all pelosi plan. [applause] the right way to rein in health- care cost, and this is the toughest issue, is not by applying more government and more control and making it more like the post office. it is by making it a consumer driven market. the answer is market incentives, not health care of by a godzilla-sized government bureaucracy. [applause] when it comes to our role in the world, our conservative agenda uses the principles that have defined our nation's foreign policy for many decades. we will support and defend political freedom, free enterprise, and human rights. we will stand with our allies

and confront those who threaten peace and destroy liberty. that is what america is. [applause] of course, there is much more in our positive, rigorous conservative agenda. it is popular. the american people have shown that they are ready for truth to tromp hope. the truth is that government is not the solution to all our problems. [applause] a little plug here -- this year, i am taking time out to write a book about the truth of the challenges the nation faces and the solutions we need to overcome them. i have titled it "no apology, the case for american greatness ." [applause] i am told that my friends have

set up a booth outside so you can buy a couple hundred copies. more seriously, sometimes i wonder whether washington's liberal politicians truly understand the greatness that is america. let me explain why i say that. at christmas time, i was shopping at walmart to buy some toys for my grand kids. as i waited in the checkout line, i happened to look around the store at the sides with the yellow face with the big smile on it. i thought of the impact of sam walters on that company. he apparently was all about good value to the consumer and making sure they could buy anything in the store they might want. rock-bottom prices, millions of items. it is interesting, the impact founders like sam have on their enterprises. in many ways, microsoft is a reflection of its founder, bill

gates, just like apple is of the leader there, steve jobs. you have probably been to disneyland. it is a physical tribute to walt disney himself -- imaginative, whimsical. virgin airlines is as irreverent and edgy as its founder. [laughter] if you look around you, you will see that people shape enterprises -- businesses, charities, movements of all crimes. for many years after they are gone, people shape businesses. people shape countries. america reflects the values of the people who first landed here, those who founded the nation, those who want our freedom, those who made america the leader of the world. america was discovered and settled by pioneers. the founders themselves launched a new concept of nation, one where the people would be sovereign, not the king. this would apply not just to

government but to our economy. the individual would pursue his own happiness and freedom, independent from government dictate. and the american was free to be an innovator, entrepreneur, inventor, founder. america became the nation of opportunity. we attracted people of pioneering spirit from all over the world. they came for freedom and opportunity, knowing that in some cases the costs would be high -- leaving behind family, learning a new language, living in poverty at first, even facing prejudice, working long hours. all of these pioneers of build a nation of income parable prosperity and unrivaled security. -- of incomparable prosperity and unrivaled security.

people like robert ford, dave packard, and so forth -- these are some of the names we know. there are more names that are just as vital to america that we do not know. those number in the millions. they created this country. that pioneering spirit is what propelled us to master the industrial age just as today we marshaled the information age. that course, chosen for america by the founders, has been settled for over 200 years. ours is the creed of the pioneers, the innovators, the strivers who expect no guarantee for success but want to live and work in freedom. that creed is under assault in washington today. liberals are convinced that the government knows better than the people how to run our businesses, how to manage health care, how to grow an economy, and how to order our lives.

they want to get into government takeover what they could never achieve in the competitive economy -- power and control over the american people. if these neo-monarchist succeed, they would kill the spirit that has built the nation. we will not let them do it. [applause] that is the liberal agenda for government. it does not encourage pioneers and inventors. it suffocates them. in a world where others have lost their liberty by trading it

for the false promises of big government, we choose to hold to our founding principle. we will stop these power seekers where they stand. we will keep america america up by retaining its character as the land of opportunity. we will welcome the inventor, the innovator. we will insist on greatness from every citizen. rather than apologizing for who we are or what we have accomplished, we will celebrate our american strength and goodness. patriots have liberated the oppressed and rescued the afflicted. the model of capitalism and free enterprise has listed billions of the world's people out of poverty. america has been a force for good like no other in the world. for that, we make no apology. thank you. god bless america. [applause]

>> wasn't that great, to hear from not one but two massachusetts republicans? how about another round of applause for governor and romney romney and senator brown? [applause] what is rarer than a republican in massachusetts? how about a conservative in hollywood? we are about to meet the man who narrated 80% of the republican national convention.

many of you do not know this, but he was also the voice in the demon sheep at, the car leafy arena -- carly fiorinia a. here is a man who has played every role from a villain in james bond -- he has been a "is in "goonies," "the profiler." he is one of us. he is going to introduce us to one of the most intriguing, iconoclastic members of congress. please welcome robert dobbie.

>> 2012 is coming up. it is a pleasure to be here. it is a pleasure to introduce my friend, who you will meet in a minute. i have only got a couple of minutes up here. it is great to see all of you. i was here last year. in hollywood, they walk across the street. here, they come up and say how are you. god bless all of you. i have a little disturbing news that i just saw over the "fox news" crawl. and culture will not be here -- ann coulter will not be here. she is on a route to guantanamo.

don't torture that. it is a joke. she is going to be here. have the terrorists in new york and americans over there. here we have dick cheney, mitt romney, scott brown in one morning. this is like the golden globes of conservative politics. i was on my way here yesterday on a united flight. i remember a year ago when i was on my way. you get up and walk around and walked in the gallery and meet the stewardesses or the stewards. you have a chat. usually, politics comes around. last year, i remember the chris matthews feeling everybody had.

i wonder how much tickling he had when scott brown one. you had this to call up the leg feeling. people were positive and happy. you wanted to see the best for the country. on this trip to washington, d.c., i was pleased to see, in the gallery, unanimously, stewardesses who had voted for obama were so disenchanted they said they had to go conservative republican the next election. they were very upset. these are people that travel the country. this is the feeling i am getting across the country. i speak to a lot of average joes. although we respect the presidency, we do not have to agree with what is being done. one of the gentlemen i have always seen at the forefront of certain issues -- i remember watching and "fox news" and a congressman came out and said

they were putting a dong heap on the door of the american taxpayer. that was this man. he was one of the first voices against the bailout. when sgt crowley had the incident, he called on congress to have a resolution to have president obama apologize. if you know that mccarter had that resolution -- they have not apologize. in massachusetts, her husband was in the union. her husband was in the police officers' union debt backed scott brown. it is interesting, the irony of certain events. i had interesting conversations with thaddeus. he is a rock and roller. his intellect is crystallizne. it is stunning.

i bought him out to los angeles. he absolutely floored by friends. his wit, his intelligence, his understanding of pop culture. here is a guy who not only understands what america stands for -- he can play the guitar behind his head. i am pleased. when my film was here a couple of years ago, i mentioned to " political "a magazine that he was one of the bright -- i mentioned to "politico" magazine that i thought he was one of the bright stars of the conservative movement. that is how we became friends. he has a lovely family. in michigan's 11th district, he fights for you people there. he is an incredible human being. he has a pamphlet that i think

is in the back. this is prior to the mount vernon won. "we the people, champions of freedom." it is a terrific piece to read. over 50,000 copies have been put out around the country. without any further ado, god bless all of you. i wanted to give a great welcome to my friend and one of our bright stars in politics, congressman thaddeus mccotter. >> i want to thank robert for that kind and turgid introduction. i was wondering if i had any time left. [laughter] it was nice how he slipped in a plug for his movie, which will be available on d.v.d. may 4.

it is an honor to be here with you. it has been called my inaugural speech to cpac. when i woke up, i turned on "fox news." i heard the conference would be kicked off with luminaries like mitt romney, john bayard, and others. [laughter] which is one of the best things i have been called in quite some time. it is important that we gather today. it is important that some things be said. if we do not know where we have been, and we do not know where we are, and we do not know where we are going, any road will take us there.

let us reflect upon the last republican majority, the current conservative coalition, and where we as a country must go. to be sustained, the republican majority lost the long term challenges facing the country. we were correct in the war for freedom against terrorism, but in the end to many bought into the ideology that history was at an end and that the united states would face no great strategic challenges. they bought into the ideology of creative destruction, whereby an economy could lose jobs by the score and yet somehow, magically those jobs would be replaced. because of those ideologies, you saw inertia set in. you saw the majority which once thought it was permanent try to

spend its way back into office. it sadly became an ephemeral majority. for that, we owe you an apology. more importantly, we owe you what we have been doing since january 2009 -- fighting every day to empower americans and to oppose the agenda of big government that is coming out of washington under democratic control. [applause] we understand there is no such thing as redemption upon demand. we will continue to fight every day for you to once more regain your trust and your enthusiasm for returning a republican majority to the united states congress. with that, i seek, in my own

way, to close with the gopast. where are we now as a republican party? we are experiencing what the left did. the left believes -- believed that all of their ideological designs for america would be thwarted. they were very anxious. they were very angry. they engaged in direct political action. because of our own missteps, we lost those majorities. today, for the first time in quite some time, we as conservative republicans feel and anxiety for our future. because of the election of senator brown -- before the election of senator brown, the democrats had complete control

of washington. what is the state of the movement now? i would argue it is strong, it is healthy. we remain philosophical, not ideological. conservatism is the negation of ideology. we fit our mind to the world, not the world to our minds. [applause] we understand that the conservative movement is organic, that it is based upon the individual who will apply the eternal principles of conservatism to meet the challenges of their time and conserve a cherished way of life. we also understand that despite the smears of the left conservatism is not an act of negation and hate. it is an act of creation and love, a love for a cherished way of life we have inherited and

will bequeath to our children. [applause] on the note of creation, there has been some word that i have heard that the republican party and the conservative movement constitutes the party of "no." a look at the facts should disabuse people of that notion. after all, when the american people asked for constitutional limited government, the democrats said know. when the american people asked for fiscal integrity and discipline in government spending, the democrats said no. when the american people asked for smaller deficits and a reduction of the debt, the democrats said m zero. -- said no. when americans ask for a

responsible green energy future, the democrats said know. -- said no. when americans asked to stop using american dollars for abortion abroad, the democrats said no. when the american people ask for the current government health care plan to be scrapped, to start from scratch from free- market principles, the democratic party said no. perhaps this is why the people of america said yes to gov. christie, yes to gov. mcconnell, and yes to senator brown. the american people know that to the american people it is the democratic party that says no, and to the american people we

say yes. [applause] we have always understood that america's ultimate strength and salvation remains her free people. we need to remember this now and a firm it more than ever. we stand at a crucible of liberty where we must define freedom for generations to come. as a conservative, as a republican, we looked to history for a guy in difficult times. we do live in difficult times. we need look no further than the greatest generation to see many parallels between their challenges and our own. when you think of the greatest generation, they face four great challenges. you had industrialization, a world war against an evil enemy, the rise of the soviet union as a strategic threat and rival

model of government, and the moral question of whether the constitution of the united states applied to all south -- to all citizens equally, regardless of race. today, america faces four great challenges. we have globalization, a world war against evil enemies, the rise of the communist chinese superstate as a threat, and the question of whether moral relativism will erode the confidence of a nation built upon self-evident truths. the greatest generation faced their crises consecutively. a global generation of americans face is their crisis simultaneously. as republicans, we understand that it is four in during goals we must drive to achieve in this difficult time to make our nation continue to be a revolutionary experiment in

freedom and self-government. we understand that we must continue to expand liberty and self-government. we must continue faith, family, and country. we must empower the american people to enact constructive change. we must defend america from her enemies. in pursuing these goals, we abide by permanent principles. our liberty is from god, not the government. [applause] our sovereignty is in our souls, not the sil. oil. our prosperity is from the private sector. our truths are self evident, not relative. [applause]

in applying these principles to meet these goals, to conquer these challenges, we understand that reasonable minds may differ even if we come at it from shared principles. politics is the art of the possible. we have no doubt that together, whether through the entrepreneurial idealism we see from the tea party, or the traditional means of virtuous citizenship which allow you to peacefully petition your government for the redress of grievances, that americans will come together. over time, we will not only recognize but will surmount the challenges in front of us. history will look back when we are finished, and they will think police say that they met their duty -- and they will thankfully say that they met their duty. they turned their nation over to the hands of their progeny.

they will tip their hats to us. we will keep freedom as expressed by rupert brooks. now bobby thanks, -- now got be thanked, who has weakened us from sleeping. wide awake, we champions of freedom will move every mountain. we will meet every challenge. we will strive toward the light of a blossoming drawn that is our newest birth of freedom. we know our future is bright because the future is you. thank you for having me. [applause] [rock music]

>> our next panel is going to touch on one of the great battles we have in front of us. that is saving freedom from a big-government agenda. to lead this panel is one of the intellectual luminaries of the conservative movement. that is fred smith, president of the competitive enterprise institute, one of our foremost war years in the climate wars. as the agenda shifts and the global warming alarmists are shown to be without portfolio, fred's agenda is shifting, and so is our national focus on the financial picture, particularly the proposal for a new form of government regulation, a new

superagency of some sort. that is the opposite of free enterprise. please welcome the president of the competitive enterprise institute, dr. fred smith. [rock music] >> i wish my family were there. we are going to be talking for the next 35 minutes about the financial crisis. you know what the answer is. markets have failed. governments must intervene. we must have new regulations. that will not be the message of this panel. it should not be the message of america. we see what it did to our country. we see what it did to stimulate the housing mandate. let us see. a bank used to be a place that

would loan money if you could prove you did not need it. under the bush and did not -- under the bush and obama administration is, banks became places that would loan you money if you could not repay it. it was unstable. government mandates and subsidies caused the problems. the bailouts and failures to address these issues have made a bad situation worse. we have 35 minutes. we are going to cover a lot of territory. the goal is to allow you to win the next debate with your brother-in-law or sister-in-law. it was not a failure of the market. it was a failure of big government. our first speaker is congressman scott garrett from new jersey. he serves on the financial services committee. although congress can sometimes go astray, when congressman you

will be hearing from is trying to keep them on a fair track. congressman. >> thank you for that introduction. good morning, everyone. it is an honor and privilege to be invited to be here and to be on the same dais as the gentleman you see before you. the topic is going to be on saving freedom from the big government agenda. that agenda is the agenda the democrats have always had, that the solution to every problem is another government program or more spending and more taxation. we in this room reject that idea. we reject that idea standing on the shoulders of many who have come before, rejecting that idea. one of the people often quoted in this room is ronald reagan. i was in new york last night. they were honoring the four pillars of freedom that ronald reagan set out.

you were with the reagan administration. i am not going to quiz you. maybe some in the audience remember. the first pillar was individual liberty. reagan spoke about that. probably his most famous quote was, "the nine most terrifying words in the english language are: i am from the government and i am here to help you." it is not humorous when president obama add, harry reid, and nancy pelosi have made those phrases part of their administration. one of the most telling is the most recent. that is health care. the idea that they would want to intercede between you and your doctor, the they want to take over one sixth of the economy, that they would like to violate our constitution, tell us that they are not concerned with liberty. the second pillar was economic

opportunity. speaking on this, reagan said government's views on the economy could be summed up in a short phrase. if it moves, attacks it. if it keeps moving, regulate it if it stops moving, subsidize it. this is something that obama has grasped as well. if you look at the legislation, whether it is the stimulus or the health care bill -- think of the house of representatives. the cap and trade bill to deal with this global warming. cap and trade failed on two accounts. it taxes are businesses and homeowners. that is one failure. it makes us uncompetitive in a global sphere, in the sense that we should be able to be competitive with china and the rest of the world. pelosi and reaed want to crush us. the third pillar is global democracy. reagan said democracy is worth

dying for because it is the most deeply honorable form of government man has ever devised. when you think about the obama administration on foreign policy, you think of a lot of missteps. the most fundamental was the misstep with regard to iran. when the young people were willing to stand up against something we have nothing to compare to. what did our administration do? what did the symbol of the free world do? it turned its hand aside from them and instead reached out with an open hand to ahmadinejad. we know what ahmadinejad did. he handed back a fist. another point on that. did any of you think it was odd that this week vice president biden was on cnn saying they think that one of the great achievements of this administration is democracy and

the achievements of this administration in iraq? which brings us to the fourth pillar of reagan's pillars, national pride. when he was diagnosed with alzheimer's, he said, "when the lord calls me home, i will leave with the greatest love for this country of ours and eternal optimism for its future. i began the journey into the sunset of my life. i know the for america there will always be a bright dawn ahead." when i come to cpac, i have the same optimism that we will have a beautiful blonde tomorrow for this country. -- a beautiful dawn tomorrow for this country. we will reclaim the house and senate, not for political purposes. not because we enjoy the fight of politics. we will do so because we want to reclaim the mantle of freedom --

economic, personal, and democracy throughout this world. i have no time left. i want to be mindful of the other guest panelists. i will close with this. when we reclaim the leadership in the house and senate, i will look to all of you to work with us in these positions to say that we will abide by his principles. most importantly, an overarching principle dear to my heart, one of the reasons i ran for office in the first place, one of the reasons i established the constitutional caucus in the house of representatives. everything we do in congress must be made and done within the confines of the constitution of the united states of america. [applause] every time we take out our voting card as a member of congress, and before we say we will vote on a bill, the

question every senator must ask himself is whether it is constitutional. do i have the legal right to vote for this? if not, i will not vote for this legislation. thank you, and god bless you. [applause] >> there are other congressmen in the united states who might hear this message. peter wallace is our next speaker. he is our forensic auditor. he understands the national services industry and can help sort out the wheat from the chaff and go with the wheat. he understands what is undermined in our financial systems. it is not the high-tech products. it is the rot at the core of our housing system. he may even talk about fannie and freddie, those wonderful institutions that brought us

global collapse. >> thanks a lot. i love to speak at conferences where ronald reagan has been quoted. i worked for ronald reagan. i was his counsel when i was -- when he was in the white house. i was also in the treasury department. one of the wonderful things about ronald reagan is that he governed according to a set of principles that were his, that were all of yours to and certainly were mine. because he governed according to a set of principles, he always looked as though he was in charge and in control. things seemed to work perfectly well. people understood, all of us in the rest of the demonstration -- we knew what we had to do. we knew what reagan would do when faced with the decisions we were facing. one day, with reagan was asked

at a press conference was asked, "before you became president, we were told the presidency was a killing job. people who took the presidency visibly aged in front of us. we look at you. you look exactly as you did when you came into office -- maybe even better. what is the secret?" reagan said, "well, they say hard work never hurt anyone, but i say why take a chance?" the principles and that reagan had in mind were principles that i am afraid we have lost touch with over the last few years. we certainly see what happens when they are violated in every respect by the current administration. when we get to the financial crisis, we have to look at this from the standpoint of reagan's

principles. you watched the debates between john mccain and barack obama. you saw that the first question in every one of the debates was the same. what is the cause of this terrible financial crisis? obama would say this is republican deregulation. i am afraid that our candidate, john mccain, a wonderful patriot, a person i supported principally because of his position on the war, did not really have the answer. the answer actually is quite simple. the u.s. government housing policy, beginning in the clinton administration and unfortunately continuing into the bush in administration, is responsible for the financial crisis. let me tell you how this

happened. in our financial system, there are 26 million subprimal and ald-a loans. you may not know what an alt-a loan is. it is a very weak loan. there are only 54 million mortgages outstanding in the united states. we are talking about half of all mortgages in the united states. they were weak, high risk, and subject to failure as soon as the economy turned down. how does that happen? how could have all mortgages in the united states have this character? it is not hard to understand. if you understand what fannie mae and freddie mac did, you can find on their books 11 million some prime and alt-a mortgages. the government wanted them to

buy those mortgages. they bought those mortgages. that is one of the reasons we have 26 million. there are another 5.5 million mortgages on the books of the organization called fha, the federal house administration. they are in the business of making week mortgages. that comes out to about 16 or so. the four largest banks in this country, under something called the community reinvestment act, made another two or 3 million such mortgages. two-thirds of week mortgages in the financial system came directly out of government policy. that is why it when the bubble began to deflate the people who had borrowed under these week mortgages -- these weak

mortgages were unable to meet their obligations. those losses transmitted into the world financial system. banks, securities firms, all kinds of investors in mortgages failed. when it came to lehman brothers, one of the major investors -- when they failed, everyone said uh-oh. we better understand through -- who our counter parties are. they went through the industry until they understood where all these bad mortgages actually work. the financial crisis was caused by the policies of the u.s. government to insist on mortgages that should never have been made in order, presumably, to increase the amount of home ownership in this country, but without thinking about the unintended consequences of a

weask financial system. keep this in mind when you read that the financial crisis was caused by lack of regulation, agreed on wall street, or all the other things repeated day after day. remember that it was the government policy that did that. thank you. [applause] >> our last panelists before we get to questions heads of freedom works, one of the prime opponents of the bailout. crony capitalists not free- market capitalists. >> i think all of us have an idea of when we believe the tea party movement started. in my view, and certainly in my personal participation, i trace it back to that first vote on the wall street bailout, the

tarp bailout. i forget when exactly that was. let us say september of last year. most people do not remember this today. that first house vote failed. it failed dramatically. the entire beltway establishment was caught back on their heels, shocked that the house had failed to pass that bill. congressman garrett was one of the brave souls that stepped in front of that train. we should appreciate him for that. it failed because a lot of people had had enough. they call their congressman in a spontaneous and open way and said, "do not vote for that bill." the establishment ran over us. it was a dark time for anybody that believed in free enterprise, individual responsibility, and the constitution. it violated all those principles. look how far we have come from

that dark day in september. thousands and millions of people are showing up based on those same principles -- individual freedom, free enterprise, and constitutionally-limited government. we are taking america back. it is a phenomenal shift of events. i think this is a grass-roots revolution unlike any i have seen in my life. understand that last february we had about 12 protesters outside of the famous barack obama hog over the stimulus plan. -- hug over the stimulus plan. by september 12 of last year, we had a million people in front of the capital, protesting big government. we marched from freedom plaza

straight to the steps of the capitol. it was beautiful chaos. was anyone there? wasn't it beautiful chaos? [applause] any single person that you walked up to that day and said why are you here, they said two things. the government is spending way too much money that we do not have. two, the government is getting involved in way too many things it has no business doing and has no business to do well. that was everything from bailing out homeowners to bailing out wall street to bailing out car companies to taking over the health-care system. that is what we are talking about on this panel. one of the core principles that animates the tea party movement -- if you look at heart, cap and trade, and the various big regulatory schemes the administration is proposing, it violates the fundamental

principles of free enterprise. the first principle is freedom. the second is responsibility. what are they doing, time and time again? they are bailing out the irresponsible and taxing be responsible to do that. when you look at president obama picking on wall street, picking on the banking industry -- yes. hold the bad actors accountable. we had a chance to do that last fall and failed to do that. what he is doing is punishing the high percentage of people in that industry -- in all industries -- that are doing the right thing. they are following the rules. they are creating jobs. the last thing we want to see is punishing the good guys. let us go after the bad guys. freedom works is looking for

those corporate bad actors. we want grassroots america to hold them accountable. we are looking to do that. one final thing. earlier today, a number of tea party activists rolled out what they are calling the contract from america. for those of you who have not seen it, please take a look at it. i believe the website is contractfromamerica.com. it should be easy enough to find. is a solicitation of good ideas. take these ideas from the people and present them to a new generation of political leaders that are willing to stand up for these principles. we do not care if they're republicans, democrats, or independence. -- independents.

it is time they started listening to us. this process is going on. in that process are some very sound regulatory reform ideas that make up the heart and soul of this movement -- basic ideas like transparency. before we regulate, let us make sure the benefit outweighs the costs. let us hold the bad actors accountable. every time an agency fails in this town, we double their budget and say, "do not do that again." it is crazy. we have to stop it. the tea party movement is how we are going to get this done. thank you. [applause] >> a thing you have heard from this panel and i am sure you have heard already is that the whole conservative, free-market, libertarian movement is not against government. we are against un-constitutional

government. we are against crony capitalism as represented by the bailout. we have time for about 10 minutes of questions. can anyone see out there? >> we are tied into looking at the international monetary markets. how do you see the dialogue we are hearing from europe right now, and greece? how will that affect our recovery? what should we watch out for in the white house and the moves they might make in getting involved here? >> one thing you can say is if you see lending go over the cliff you might slow down and think about where europe is taking us. that is a big question. there are a lot of problems in america. europe is getting there a little

earlier than us, as is california. maybe we should learn from that. >> i have a question. why is there a failure to separate investment and commercial basis? >> it is simple. that is what the media loves. if you can explain things in one sentence, you can say we stop separating investment banking from commercial banking and that is what caused the problem. if there had been no change in the law, glass-steagall, everything would be the same. the banks got in trouble for making bad loans. the banks got in trouble for making bad investments. there is no sense in saying -- there is no substance to the

claim that any kind of deregulation along the lines of eliminate glass-steagall would have made any difference in what occurred. what caused the financial crisis is what i said. it is the fact that we filled our entire financial system with bad, weak mortgages that failed as soon as the bubble began to dissipate. >> those of you who are students of financial history will know this is not a brand new story. the s &l crisis in the 1980's -- banks made bad loans and their claim was that we had given them more freedom. there are few areas you can lose more money than giving 30-year fixed-rate mortgages in an inflationary period. they lost money because they made bad loans. they have done it again. they are being encouraged to keep doing it. we have learned nothing from

this. next question. >> thank you for your remarks. i am running from california's 30th siege. i look forward to working with you. h. r.45 450 -- is that on target with what your remarks were? that prevents congress from getting around the rule in place regarding constitutional authority. it went to committee. is it ever going to come out of committee? is it going to help solve the problem? >> it is not going to come out of committee for the next 10 or 12 months, i can assure you. it is the right direction. already, we have some requirements that legislation identifies what their bases is -- the constitutional basis for acting.

we will refer to article 1 section 8, and the like. if you're a student of history, you know we have seen great expansion since the days of fdr. we need to bring that back into what the founders originally intended. there are a number of ways to try to tackle that problem. >> one of the phrases i think you have heard me say before is the constitution, like all human documents, is not perfect. but it is so much better than what we have now. it is time to get back to that. we are fighting for that cause. over here, on this side. >> how oucn new debt did we rack up, total, in 2009? we saw that scary article on "bloomberg" that said it was a total of $11 trillion over the

previous 14 months. can you go over that and break it down if you have the time? also, the cost of government aid by americans with tax reform -- august 12 is the average number of days worked to pay for all costs created by government -- all direct spending, all indirect costs. they do not give the absolute value in their report, but it is $7.50 trillion annually, $5 trillion of spending and $2.50 trillion indirect. . .

but what is certainly true is that the only way our economy is going to grow and we are going to be able to address our deficit problem and our debt problem is if we cut back on taxes and cut back on spenledsing. the spending and the taxes that

have to be cut together and the next congress, if we are lucky enough for it to be a republican congress, is going to have to make some very tough choices. and i hope all of you will be with them when they make those choices because it's going to be tough. thank you. [applause] >> and just one -- i want him to get the applause of the just one quick point on. that one piece of legislation that i'm currently is working on with is fannie mae and freddie mac to say that they, too, now that the government has nationalized those entities, they, too, should be on budget and they,, too should, as far as their debt, should be bar to bar debt, if we have to raise the debt limit than the -- then the democrats should be responsible. >> we hear a lot about -- if republicans get in, the great fear that happened before is that they'll say, well, yes indeed we have to cut but not in my district. the tea party movement has proven and nebraska senator nelson who made a deal for his

community chose, that americans recognize that dieting starts at home, budget dieting starts at the state, we should all come up with a list of our states that, no thank you, congress, you're already helping us too much, cut our budgets, too. [applause] >> i have a question. sorry. >> we're going to go back and forth. >> ok. >> yeah, thank you. you can tell us how much of the crisis was caused by the federal reserve and artificially low interest rates over the course of the last decade or so? >> i happen to be trained as an austrian economists, i went to george mayson, and i think the fed had a lot to do with it. they're pumping a lot of money into the economy and that combined with the kind of political subsyization of the housing bubble and i do think

-- think it was important. >> ok. over to this side now. >> thank you. i'm from florida. my name is darlene. i've been a realtor for 38 years. and one of the things that i see that we really need help with, which should have been the first step for our president, was to work on the short sales and foreclosures immediately. we have properties out there that are deteriorating our neighborhoods and also the lenders are waiting six, eight, nine months before they give us an answer when a contract comes in. what do you think we should be able to do with congress to make this a lot more speedy for herb in our country? thank you. >> to start with that. one of the reasons that these markets are slowing down is if everybody assumes they might get better terms if they delay a few more months, there's a tendency for everyone to wait. in some ways if we had stayed out of this whole thing to begin with, bankruptcy and foreclosures in a more orlandoerly way would have cleared these up much earlier

than we're seeing now. anything else? what? they said time remaining. we've got time. over here. >> hi. this is a question for whoever wants to take a shot at it. while i think most people here are ready to acknowledge that the financial crisis stems not from free market access but instead from misguided government interinvention, the issue is that i think the public dialogue going on isn't so receptive to thatñi idea. i think the narrative that's taking place is very an tag istic to that point of view. my question is, how can we change the dialogue soñr that w can set up the environment to pass the right legislation to truly address the issue? >> quite simple. let's go after some corporate bad actors who have their nose in the trough and are looking for a bailout or a subsidy or hurting their competitors. that that's wrong and we should

show it. >> and remember, america was established as a limited government and that was an ideal that not only made us a freer portland of the world, notçóçó only a wealthy part of world but it also made america the most -- in the world. we can stick to all people and the narrative we have to develop can show all americans they don't care what we know until they know we care. we do care about freedom and what it brings. awful us should, too. i'm afraid our panel is up but thank you very much for listening to us today. [applause] [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2010] >> a great panel, thank you, friends, for your leadership of it and for your leadership of so much of the intellectual

center of the movement for some years. we've talked a lot today about the tea party and how the tea party and the conservative movement relate. it really is an infusion of new blood, new energy and new members. and yesterday something important happened and that's when the conservative movement and the tea party movement really came together around an important statement of principles. the statement of principles is known as the mount vernon statement. it's on the website at themountvernonstatement.com. i encourage to you read it because that's the common ground that fred just spoke of. that's the ground on whichñiñ%i factions, all stranledses of the conservative movement come together and agree. the principles of limited government. individual liberty, personal responsibility. those things are the foundation of the entire movement and the tea party is there with -- with

us on that. yes, there are natural distinctives between the various strands and even between the tea party and the conservative movement. but we are all together in coalition and we have common ground. so i encourage you to see, read and then sign online the mount vernon statement at themountvernonstatement.com. we've been talking about saving freedom from various assaults and pressures. now we're going to talk about saving freedom from the enemies of our values. well, that statement, the mount vernon statement, also demonstrates what i think we all know and that is that the pillars of conservatism rest on a set of moral values. and that's what this next panel is going to address. it's going to be moderated by terry jeffrey. he is a syndicated columnist. he is editor at large of human events. he is the editor in chief of

cnsnews.com. please give a warm welcome to terry jeffrey. [cheers and applause] [applause] >> thank you very much. [applause] i'm going to quickly introduce our panel of four excellent speakers. we're each going to talk to you for seven minutes appear then hopefully be able to get some questions. our first speaker will be the great phyllis schaffley. one of the all-time great leaders of the conservative movement, one of the all-time great americans. phyllis, among her many accomplishments, wrote the 1964 best seller "a choice not an echo."

she founded, has led the eagle forum which has had a great positive impact on this country and she led the successful grassroots battle to defend the equal rights amendment. [applause] our second speaker will be dr. janice shaw craus who leads the think tank of concerned women of america. she was a presidential speech writer to the senior president bush. she was a delegate to the united nations and her latest book is "children at risk" which is out now from transaction publications. she also writes a weekly column that you can see at townhall.com and humanevents.com. our third speaker is tim gagline. he worked for a decade for the great conservative senator from indiana, dannielynn cotes. he then worked for president george w. bush. he is now the vice president of external affairs for focus on the family which very much was in the news recently because of

its ad during the super bowl featuring tim tee bow and his mom. and our last speaker will be eric who has done a great many cool things including authoring a "the new york times" best seller. which was the companion book to that excellent movie "amazing grace." he also has worked as a writer and voice for "veggie tales" and has authored more than 30 children's -- children's books. he was -- please welcome phil -- phyllis. [cheers and applause] >> thank you very much. thank you. thank you, dear friend. we speakers did not check with each other what we were going to say. and i'm sure the other speakers that follow me will talk about if the enemies of the conservative movement and we do have plenty. but the people i'm going talk about, i would not categorize

as enemies, just wrong doctors. and these are the people -- wrong doers. and these are people in the republican party who are trying to make the party into something it isn't. they go under various names like ryanos and country club republicans and establishment and they're the ones who think the next guy in line ought to be the one we nominate for president. and years ago they were known as the new york republicans or the rockefeller republicans. so let me give you just a little historical perspective. the conservativeñi movement was born in the 1950's and 1960's, really based on a lot of study groups of people who were concerned about the soviet missile threat who wanted to maintain american military superiority and who did believe in fiscal integrity. and then barry goldwater appeared and we all marched behind him and we did take over the republican partyñi in san francisco in 1964 and then we

had a bad defeat. but there were 27 million people who voted for goldwater and i can tell you, nobody ever regretted it. because that was the start of the conservative movement. but after that conservatives became very defeated. we came to believe we couldñr never elect a real conservative and that's why we went for what we thought was second best which was richard nixon and that turned also to be a bad mistake and we took a bath on our elections in 1974. on this battle against the equal rights amendment and i held it back in a few states fueled by republican women friends and then i realized that the tsunami was about to roll over us because anybody who was everybody was for the equal rights amendment and i looked for some new people and i found them in the churches.

i found people who didn't even know where the fake cap tal was until i put them on a bus and headed them in the right direction and i prayed that we'd have 1,000 people in springfield, illinois, and one day in april, 1977, we had it. and that was the start what have we now call the pro-family movement and they became a force in politics and then the pro-lifers joined and we then began to be called the social conservatives. and meanwhile there was another group brewing, the people we called the reagan democrats. because if this -- in that period of the carter administration, who was a terrible president, we had an economic situation that was called stagflation and that meant everything was going wrong. we had high unemployment, high interest rates, high debt, we had everything bad. and so that's when the reagan -- these people who had been democrats all their lives began to see that the republicans had

more to offer and ronald reagan talked their language and we all fell in line to back ronald reagan and of course the rhinos, they weren't called that then, they were the rockefeller republicans, they backed nelson rockefeller and then george bush and -- but we elected ronald reagan, it was a big victory. we took over in 1980 and in 1984. and what i want to emphasize is that what -- it was not that we all agreed with everybody on everything else, but we had a coalition. we had a coalition as a people who believe that america should have superiority over the soviets. people who believe in fiscal integrity, in other words, the goldwater republicans, and then we had the new social conservatives who had come in on the pro-life issue and the e.r.a. issue and the marriage issue. and then we had the reagan democrats who began to see that

the economics of the democrats were not good for them. now, after reagan finished, why, then we had the first george bush. and he played the games pretty well when he was vice president under reagan. but once he got into office himself he began to show that he was a new world order man and he renegged on his no new taxes pledge, his famous no new taxes, read my lips. and so he lost to bill clinton and then those who believe in -- [inaudible] which we thought was an obsolete british doctrine we'd gotten rid of gave us bob dole in 1996 and in the year 2000 george w. bush, bush's second, got the nomination because he theñrñr money before anybody go started. but basically he won because by this time we had the marriage

¢dlts goingñrç')txd we now have 31 states that have passed marriage. in fact, we would -- he would not and could not have been elected if it hadn't been that theéiñrç+fw3 marriage amendment the ballot in the state of ohio which turned out to be theiçó crucial state in that election. so that has been very good for a republican victory. and i think we can win with conservatives -- conservatism, if we maintain the coalition of the four groups. and no, we're not trying to expel anybody from the party, but i do suggest that it's a mistake to try to go third party or so-called independent because on november of this year -- [applause] when the congress is elected every single one of the 435 house members and every single one of the senators that is going to be a republican and a

democrat and you have to make a choice. there's not going to be some third party movement. it isn't going to make it. everything in our country is rigged against that. so i think it is essential to the validity, the integrity, the success of the conservative movement that we recognize that it's based on a coalition of these groups and we don't want to expel anybody but we do want to make sure that the real conservatives are in charge. and i'm happy to tell you that the republicans platform adopted in 2008 in st. paul is the most conservative platform the republicans have ever adopted and we need to stick by it because people will respect what we do and we need to remember that we have to keep all of these groups and they will understand that their vehicle to success is through the republican party. thank you. [applause]

>> in the lobby of the department of health and human services there's a large bronze statue. if president a solitary woman playing with her three children. that sculpture is called the happy mother. nothing better illustrates what's wrong with american culture today than the philosophy behind that sculpture, that fathers are extraneous in american families. yet that myth is the basis of 40 years perform failure by leftist research communities to honestly report on the problems of fatherless families. my job is to study and write about those issues and the trends that affect american families. in my writing, books, columns, commentaries, my speaking, it is very, very clear, we cannot separate the social issues from

the economic issues. they are completely intertwined. family problems always affect the pocketbook. many social scientists now agree, a loving mother and a father within a committed marriage is the very best foundation for a family, for the economy and for the nation. [applause] yet currently you all know 40% of american children are born out of wed lock, that fact affects each and every one of us and the totality of american culture. the bottom line is the family is the glue that holds together our communities, the nation and the world. and that is weakening. the moral foundation necessary for a civilized and well functioning society is crumbling all around us. when the family becomes nothing more than a group of people living together there is no

moral authority in terms of standards of behavior. children are left to drift aimlessly in an anything-goes kind of culture. the family is where the children first learn what it means to be an ethical, moral and everyone thetic person, somebody who will become a contributer to a good and prosperous society. these characteristics are more caught than taught. children need to observe authentic interactions day in and day out in the reactions and interactions of the adults around them. american opinion leaders have for years advocated and modeled a self-indulgent lifestyle. they have claimed that there are no negative consequences and endless stream of so-called research studies -- the causes of the nation's social problems. reality, though, cannot be you is pruss -- suppressed. material prosperity can never replace moral poverty.

[applause] without authentic moral absolutes, america as we know it is at risk. moral boundaries, not moral relativism, are the fiber of american nations. when truth and goodness are not vigilantly upheld, distortions, lies and myths flood in to take over just like the flood waters flooded new orleans in hurricane katrina. history offers some very harsh examples. notably hitler's youth movement andçóxd moo's red guards thelft show that terror can be un leashed when solid principles are no longer the guiding principles of the nation. when the marriage and family decline, the quality of community life erodes and there's a correspondenting breakdown in social cohesion. an examination of the world's

children, the children -- the world that our children live in, show the morals vacuum, created by those people who disparage traditional morality, virtue and even good manners. the result is moral decay. as vulgarity spirals down into viciousness and crude immorality. what is thriving in today's8÷ rock music and pop stars pushing the envelope with a hee donistic lifestyle and songs with crude, course and shockingly vial lyrics. cartoons, popular movies and television programs portray parents as out of touch, old-fashioned and prudish. patriotism, family traditions and religion are treated with disdain. adults with moral values are people in positions of authority are often held in contempt. mocked or openly ridiculed. a favorite tactic of television today is to poke fun at

bumbling and inept fathers in comedies, principles -- principals, religion teach,ers all these people are poked fun at, weakening respect for parents and other adult authority figures. this gets our young people to take huge risks and to potentially face very strong consequences, very costly consequences. in analyzing these problems, we've seen grassroots attitudes can change. the cultural climate of a nation doesn't just change overnight, it doesn't just happen. the facts indicate a necessity for such change. a sustained public effort is required in order to achieve these changes. consider two efforts in america's recent history. they show dramatic success in producing broad cultural transformations. they have been seen to convince women not to smoke or drink alcohol during pregnancies because of the danger to their

babies. sboord nat campaigns tried to convince parents that second hand smoke is damaging to children. and that drinking and driving is deadly. the results have been very positive. these efforts to change public behavior were based on solid research and they also were based on a broad public relations effort that focused on the whole nation. they produced amazing results at the grassroots level, perceptions changed. values changed and most importantly behavior changed. the question we face today is, are we willing to change the epidemic of single parenting in this nation? will it likewise be influenced by the research? will we be willing to do what it takes to change attitudes and behaviors so that we don't have so many single parent households? it's very obvious for america to have a future as bright as our past we must guard against

the fortresses, we must guard the fortresses of truth and we must end the assaults, fallacies and followies and myths that are pervasive in our culture. in the early 1900's', robert frost wrote a poem called "mending walls." he described the experience of walking with his neighbor down through the meadows along the wall and mending the parties that had fallen down during the winter. we've looked today in my speech at all the fence lines of our culture that need to be repaired. the question is, are we willing to rebuild and repair those walls? are we willing to do the heavy lifting of those bolders, to put them back so that future generations will have a bright and prosperous future? will we go out from this convention today determined to restore the moral foundations that our fathers laid down for this land and build a strong wall, a fortress, that will protect future generations?

[applause] >> it's absolutely true. no one should have to follow phyllis and janise but i'll give it a wing. i'm glad janice finished with that question because i believe overwhelmingly that the rising generation of young conservatives would answer to you, janice, overwhelmingly, the answer is yes. i think we can be hopeful and opt missxd tick but rooted in reality, not just in idealism. and i'd like to start my remarks, if i may, on behalf of the focus of the family. by comboting four different human beings who i think all got it right. the first one is the late senator from new york, daniel patrick moynahan, perhaps he's never been quoted here. but there's at least one thing that he said which i believe is absolutely correct. he famously said, and and i

quote, that the central conservative truth is that it is culture not politics that determines the success of a society. he said the central liberal truth is that politics can change a culture and save it from itself. i think he was right. conservatives understand that politics is down stream from culture and not the other way around. now i want to turn the clock back from that time of 1985 to a book that was written in 1933 by the great conservative historian christopher dawson. here's what he said. the central conviction which has dominated my mind ever since i began to write is the conviction that the society or culture which has lost its spiritual roots is a dying culture. however prosperous it may

appear externaly. consequently, he wrote, the problem of social survival is not only a political or economic one, it is above all things, he wrote, religious. since it is in religion that the ultimate spiritual rootings both of society and of the individual are to be found. i think that was a profound statement. in the shadow of world war i and with the great unfortunate anticipation that it had not ended with world war i and that world war ii was looming. more recently still and yet a much different thinker, erving crystal, here's what he wrote in the early 1990's. political problems, even many economic problems, are at heart ethical and cultural problems. he said, improving the

attitudes and virtues of a nation is at best a slow halting process. and lastly, different from all of the three, patrick buchanan, here's what he wrote, we seem in america not only to day -- disagree with each other more than ever, but to have come almost to detest one another. politically, culturally, racially. he said, we seem ever ready to go for each other's throats. four very different men and yet i think if unfortunately accurate. we have focused on the family, we as american conservatives realize one very important reality. government cannot cause the american family to fall in love

again. it does not matter how much money we spend, it does not matter how much money we authorize or appropriate. we as american christians and conservatives but fully within the judaeo christian tradition, the best tradition of western culture and western civilization, privileged to live in the greatest country in the history of man, we know that family, neighborhood, local community and religion, these are the places where we have to turn to resolve and to address the most pressing social problems that we face. a few weeks ago here in washington something hopeful and something remarkable happened. it was the unveiling and the signing of the manhattan declaration, to go to janice's point, we are hopefulists by

nature and when you read the manhattan declaration you are reading perhaps the greatest contemporary exposition of what we as conservatives believe about the most impressing -- pressing social problems of the 21st century. i encourage everyone in this room and far beyond this room to read the manhattan declaration, focus on the family was one of the original signers of this and it puts at the center these issues, the sanctity of every human life, marriage as between one man and one woman once and forever and religious liberty which i would argue increasingly is becoming the most important civil rights issue of this brand new century. but the question merges from

these larger themes, well, what are you at focus on the family actually doing? as one of the leaders in the pro-life movement, we will continue with conviction to articulate in all 50 states president important central narrative of our time. 50 million abortions since 1973 is 50 million too many. we will continue to say -- [applause] we will continue to say that there are much better alternatives and that's why focus on the family is one of the leaders in america on orphan and adoption initiatives, on foster care, on marriage and parenting outreach, on operational that sound which is one of the most important pro-life measures going on anywhere in the history of the pro-life movement.

we will continue to articulate truth to power. we believe those who support abortion for the most part are not interested in making abortion rare. particularly those in the democratic party. we would like both parties to see the value of life and the need to encourage women to choose life for their children. the church needs to do all it can to assist women in this situation and we need to make adoption accessible, less expensive and to create a national database for waiting patients. let me close by saying this, one of the founders, the greatest founders of contemporary american conservative, along with phyllis, was the late, great william f. buckly. and here's what he said about the rising generation of young conservatives. he said, this was said by the way in an address in 1964, modern formulations are necessary even in defense of very ancient truths.

not because of any alleged an ac roism in in the old ideas, but the attitudes remain the essential statement of the western moral code. but he said, because the idiom of life is always changing and we need to say things in such a way as to get inside the vibrations of modern life. in some, we can be confident that the rising generation of young americans, particularly rising -- the rising generation of young conservative americans, they understand and with the poet esra pound, we in the conservative movement are ready to make it new and to be hopeful and to be cheerful and to understand, to quote ed full in her of the heritage foundation just yesterday, that we have a country to save. so let's get about that business. thank you so much and god bless. [applause]

>> thank you, tim. good afternoon, cpac. that's an afternoon. it's great to be here, it's an honor to be here. i have 45 minutes of solid material but i have seven. i want to say, i really am excited to be here. i'm pretty much going to say exactly what you've just heard except since you've already heard, it i'll just do it in sort of a slappy an -- a sloppy anecdote al fashion. i'm not as buttoned up as tim. he's wearing gloshes. he's the kind of guy who wears gloshes. i'm the kind of guy that wrecks my shoes. but i believe in the conservative -- we're a big party. we can have a both. a few sloppy anecdotal remarks for me. first of all, i know the only reason you're giving me the time of day because i was a writer for "eventually tales."

i know. that i knew that up front. it hurts my feelings. it really does. i used to work for chuck coleson and another, it's a very hod career i've chosen for myself. but i do believe the culture is important and i believe "veggie tales" is important. we don't have time otherwise i'd lead you in singing that song. thank the lord we don't have time. i already, as you heard, was involved with the book "amazing grace." i think that -- anybody see the movie "amazing grace"? anybody see that movie? my book is a little bit different from the movie and the movie you saw john newton was played by albert finny. in my book he's played by will federal. that's a different thing. some -- will ferrell. that's a different thing. in any case, obviously i think the culture is very important and if i didn't believe it was vulgar i would say the tie tal of my speech is, it's the culture stupid but i don't like to say stupid. if i ever do, let me know. i want to tell you a little bit

about myself because i think it's important to understand, well, you'll see, as i tell you. first of all, it was mentioned that i went to yale. i didn't groh grow up in that kind of a family. i grew up in a working class family of european immigrants who actually ended up being my parents. yeah. so then you are awake. i'll continue. my father is greek from greece. my mother is from germany, hence my deep love for siegfried and roy. i just want to say that now. but i was raised -- my father was conservative. he always told me how he loved reading william f. buckly because he learned words from buckly and i'm still learning words from reading buckly but the thing, is i pretty much grew up in a basic typical american family with heartland valueless. even though we were only 90 minutes away from manhattan, tfls pretty much fly over country where i grew up. i just want to say, we had heartland traditional values, my parents worked hard, taut me to love my country.

and then if the success for a son of european immigrants, i got to go to yale university. but there's bad news. when you goat a place like yale university it turns out that the values, the heartland values that your parents were teaching you and hoping you would live your lifeworks those are not the values you find in a place like yale university. yale university, like which are live now in manhattan, places like this, it tend to have values at odds, very much at odds, with the kind of traditional values most perform america has. this is something that came as a surprise to me. i came to yale with really an open-minded innocent, if not naive young man, just looking to see what's life all about? and i have to say that the values that were in a sense part of the geist of yale and then later on when i grd, part of manhattan, the world of

publishing and entertainment, those values are not the values you find in the rest of the country. the fact of the matter, tim already said this, it politics is down stream of culture. it's obviously important, we wouldn't be here if we didn't think it was important, to get people elected who are conservatives who have conservative values and so on and so forth. but if that's all you do, you'll lose the war. it's like fighting a war, you've got the best people on the ground and you have no air cover. the culture, the culture is extraordinarily important and if you're fighting a battle with no air cover you will lose. i think it's safe to say that over the last 50 or so years as we've seen the rise of the media culture i think it's safe to say that the values fft cultural elites, now notice i'm not mentioning barack obama, but i'm just saying, the values of the cultural elites, people who have values like that have in a sense been the only voices you're hearing from in places likeman hatton and hollywood

because that's where the culture is getting pitts information and its content. obviously now when it comes to news and government we have -- we've got roger ailees, we've got talk radio but in the culture itself, when you think of sitcoms and talk shows, our values are being mopped. traditional values, conservative valuings, christian values, biblical values, thost, those are not the values you're ever finding represented in -- on the networks in movies. it's just not something that's happening. it's a battle we need to get in. if you care about laws, if you care about how people vote, you have to care about that. people are getting a steady diet of secular humanist liberalism from every tv show and every movie and every magazine, if that's what they're getting, it's going to effect how they vote when they go into the voting booth. so my first point really is this, culture is

extraordinarily important. if you're somebody who has values and understands that what we believe -- we don't believe about freedom in a vacuum or laissez-faire. everything we believe is connected to some -- to a moral order. then you have to believe that the ballot for the culture is as important or perhaps even more important than the battle for the legislature, the battle for the white house and so on and so forth. that's my first point and my second point, which will be eight seconds long, is, let me sum it up in three words and these words will make you uncomfortable. jesus is lord. [cheers and applause] now, you can't really say that -- no, you can't say that in washington, d.c., so they're going to edit that out. but the reason i say that is because you have to understand that in my life, when i grew up and i went to yale andify imbuyed these liberal values, i drifted away from the world that my parents had bequeethed to me. i drifted afrom loving america

and all these different things but in 1988 some years ago i had a dramatic born again conversion experience. i was completely changed. i'm a jesus freak but don't let anybody know. i have to say, what happened, of course, was my world view changed. as soon as i became serious about my faith, my world view changed and i have to say, although i voted for jesse jackson and michael due can cass, my world view changed. i know, it's horrible. but i realized that somehow my faith is connected to all of these cultural values and it's completely changed me. but i also realize that as important as values are and now values were important to me suddenly and it was a crusade, the reason i say jesus is lord is because my hero, if which will berforce was writing a bat -- fighting a battle that we can't even marge -- imagine. we think we have it tough. we think our culture is in a

bad place. i won't go into it now but that was a terrible, terrible time and that culture was broken. but wilberforce armed with the love of god fought and won and i believe that he won the abolition of the slave trade and the abolition of slavery itself and a host of other ballots because he fought with the love of goth god. he actually took seriously the commandment from jesus to love your enemies. you don't not have enemies. you have enemies. the slave interests were bitter, bitter enemies. but somehow he didn't demonize them the way you would if you didn't think they were made in the image of god. and by didn't of the fact that could he somehow fight passionately and at the same time be gracious and kind to those with whom he bitterly disagreed, he showed those who were on the fence that there's something else here, there's something beyond, it's not just wilberforce.

we're talking about something perhaps truth, perhaps something important and people listened. so i want to say to us conservatives, it's important that we fight hard, that we fight passionately for the culture, but that we do it in a different way, that we actually somehow understand that we've got to figure out how to love our enemies even as we fight them with everything we possibly have. because we must do that. [applause] and since my time is up, let me just say, if you're a young person, please follow me on twitter and facebook. thank you. [applause] >> thank you, eric. you should also follow cnsnews.com. we don't have time for a question and answer period. please join me in thanking phyllis, janice, tim and eric. thank you very much. [applause]

>> they're right. that is a battle and that was great pafpblet i think we all agree that janice, eric and tim under terry's direction did a great job. but let's express a special

measure of appreciation for the ageless indi defagtable warrior, phyllis. [cheers and applause] one of the great ladies of the conservative movement. and so is the next person i'm going to introduce to you, she has ch happens to be our lawyer . she also sometimes calls herself the con significantlyary of the vast white ring conspiracy. she is the chair of the a.c.u., the american conservative union foundation, she is council to the national riffle association, a number of other conservative organizations, one of the bright lightings of the conservative movement, my friend and yours, clita mitchell. [applause] >> good afternoon.

our next speaker for the afternoon is not only our speaker, but he is the last republican speaker of the u.s. house of representatives. congressman john boehner represents the eighth district of ohio and in the year that he has served in congress he has established himself with stellar conservative credentials. in the 19 years that john boehner has been a member of congress, he has never asked for or received an earmark. never. [applause] and he did that before anybody knew about earmarks. in his first term as a member of congress, he was one of the gang of seven who forced seven republican house members who forced the release of the names

of all of the house members who had overdrawn their qut -- accounts at the house banks and that house banking scandal paved the way for the republican revolution that took over the house in 1994. [applause] john boehner is pro-life, he is pro-second amendment, he is a tireless advocate for school choice and in short is he a conservative leader who has been leading the republicans in the house of representatives during the dark year of 2009. one year ago john boehner, i believe, started our comeback when he led and kept every house republican in line and they voted unanimously against the stimulus bill. [applause] and that was at a time when obama's approval rating was at

67%. he continues to lead the house republicans in the minority to vote 100% against the democrats' budget last year. we lost only one republican on health care, bless his heart that guy thought it was just a pro-life vote. and, yeah, we lost a on cap and trade or cap and tax but the fact of the matter is we have a leader in john boehner who has been leading the fight on our behalf to stop the socialist agenda in washington. so i want you to turn with me and look at the greatest kiss of 2009, leader boehner leading the fight against the left wing agenda of the left wing speaker of the house, nancy pelosi, promoth the left wing agenda of the left wing president, obama. watch this.

>> what happened to the promise that we're going to let the american people see what's in this bill for 48 hours? we don't have time to do that. ♪ i've been roaming around at all i see painted faces fill the faces i can't read ♪ >> the gentleman has had 30 years to put this bill together. and the house is going to spend a whopping five hours debating the most profound piece of legislation to come to this floor in 100 years. and -- and the chairman has the

you a daft to drop a -- audacity to drop a 300-plus-page amendment in the hopper at 3:09 a.m. this morning. and so i would ask my colleagues, don't you think the american people expect us to understand what's in this bill before we vote on it? [cheers and applause] whether it's a budget, a trillion-dollar deficit as far as the eye can see, a national energy tax that they call cap and trade, -- trade, republicans have an obligation to stand on principle and to fight these proposals. but, but at the same time it's also better for them. >> and, ladies and gentlemen, i give you the net speaker of the house of representatives --  next speaker of the house of representatives, john boehner.

[cheers and applause] >> thank you, thank you. thank you all very much. thank you. thank you all. thank you. all right. all right. thank you. thank you. thanks for that very nice introduction and let me say, i'm really so proud to be here with all of you. i want to thank the cpac organizers for all of the hard work they've put in to making this event a success and a growing success over the last few decades.

you know, when i spoke here a year ago as cleta mentioned, we were just a month into the obama era. you know, days earlier house republicans had stood united and voted no on the president's trillion-dollar stimulus plan. i was still taking heat from keith observerman and others on the left because they didn't like the fact that i threw the bill on the floor. they called it disrespectful. they said we were committing political suicide. they said it was the death nell for president conservatives. well, as usual, they were wrong. [applause] that moment didn't signal the death of the republican party. if anything it was a rebirth. the start of a transformational

process that's still going on. it was the moment when republicans started listening to the american people, standing on principle and offering better solutions to the american people. [applause] you know, the democrats tried every trick in the book to try to get some of our members to vote yes on this crazy bill. they tried to buy them off with pork, you know, earmarks,. they tried to intim date us with polls. they tried to scare us off by calling us the party of no. yes. they wanted to call us the party of no as if that was going to scare us away. but none of it worked. all of us, every single one of us, stood tall that day because we were listening to the american people who sent us there to represent them. [applause] if there's one thing i want you

to know about me is that i'm a regular guy. i grew up working on my dad's tavern. i mopped floors, did i dishes, i waited tables, i tended bar. i learned to deal with every character that walks in the door. but i was lucky enough while i was in college to go work for a small business, i eventually bought that small business and grew it into a business that i own myself. i thought i was going to do that the rest of my career, except somewhere along the line i ended up here in the united states congress and ended up as the leader of the republicans in the house. you just never know what path you're going to end up on. but my experiences in life taught me three lessons. three lessons that i'd like to share with you. because these are the lessons that i think all successful leaders, parties and movements have. they're at the core of who i am and how i operate. and i think they say an awful

lot of how i would operate if if the republicans were in the majority and if i had the opportunity to bed speaker of the house. [applause] i think the first lesson is pretty simple. be open, be transparent and be willing to listen. i come from a big family, i've got 11 brothers and sisters. and my parents worked hard to send us to parochial schools, the nine boys to muller high school, of all places. and i worked my way through xavier university and i got a great education. must have been one of those dayton people over there. we have a couple of musketeers here. i did get a good education but i learned to be a straight shooter. i learned that honesty is the best policy and i learned to listen, whether it was in school, whether it was a

lecture, whether i was being scolded. but i was a salesman. people think that the best atry bulet for a good salesman is the ability to speak. i would argue that the best attribute of a good salesman is the ability to listen and the willingness to listen. and so too often our elected officials in this country really do get a -- get it backwards thelft think it's their job to speak all the time. they think their job is to be the lecturer, not the listener. "politico" a an article recently titled "obama the scold." i don't know if you saw it. but voters thought they were electing a commander in chief in 2008. instead they got a professor who offers finger-waving lectures on buying energy efficient light bulbs, exercising more, staying away from blogs and cable news networks. we've seen a president who

tells us why we should endure skyrocketing energy prices and higher taxes, we have a president who tells us we need government-run health care because doctors remove kid's tonsils because they make more money. oh, yeah. and even a president who lectures the supreme court of the united states right to their face. nobody's immune from the finger waggering. i was in the white house for a meeting a few weeks back. we were talking about the economy and jobs and i was explaining that these democrat policies, you know, cap and trade, national energy tax, government takeover of our health care system, card check, higher tax rates, all of this was paralyzing business owners because they had all of this uncertainty. and those small business owners can plan, invest or hire new workers in this kind of environment. but the president didn't like it. he looked at me and he slapped the table and said, boehner, it's not my policies that are paralyzing these employers,

it's you republicans who are scaring them. i said, mr. president, the american people aren't scared about what we have to say, they're scared by the policies that are being promoted by your administration and your colleagues up on the hill. .

i will insist that the democrats scrapped their takeover and start over. our health care system needs help, but we need to work together, and the only way to do that is start with a clean sheet of paper and see what we can agree on. we have ideas that can help make the system work better that it not involve the government taking control of the entire system.

the president recently admitted his health care bill had run into a buzz saw. what the president said was that he ran into a buzz saw of lobbyists and special interests. when you stop to think about this this is outright insulting. it is insulting to you and pelting -- and millions of americans who stood up and said no to the government takeover of our health care system. mr. president, but said -- the buzz saw was not the special interests. it was tens of millions of americans who were saying stop, and americans need to stay involved with this. they are still try to put this bill together. they're still trying to find some sneaky way to move this government-run plan through. there is a report out this afternoon where they are going to try to this.

keep your eyes on them. there is another issue, thie issue of the sanctity of life. in november republican lawmakers joined with some democratic lawmakers to stop them from using taxpayer funds from being used to provide abortions in america. we got some flak for working with the other side, but when it comes to protecting the unborn, we will take the boats where ever we can get them. -- the votes where ever we can get them. we are showing the people that there is a difference between the two parties. we will not stop there. the boomers, my generation, we have created a big mess. we made promises to ourselves that our kids and grandkids cannot afford. the most politicians, the cape

-- they keep kicking the can down the road. those in charge will not offer serious solutions to fix entitlement programs to. we need leaders who will. that is why my third and final lesson is that real leaders work harder than their opponents. whether you are talking about sports, business, politics, the team that worked the hardest is the team that usually wins. a hard work is not just winning the majority. it is doing something with it. i warned nancy pelosi about this. i said the value of a majority flies not in the opportunity in the opportunity to wield great power, but to do great things. haall we have been left with is

fewer jobs. the hard work is cutting spending, getting control with the debt, and living within your means. the hard witork blocking needles regulations. the hard work is keeping terrorist out of america, not reading them miranda rights. [applause] this is the hard work that republicans are prepared to do. in the months ahead we will tell the nation exactly what we do differently if we are entrusted with their power. it is not want to be a document handed down from on high that would land like a flood. it will be billed by listening.

we are going to listen to things like contract from america. we will listen to things like the mount vernon statement. we will listen to the tea party movement. [applause] our manifesto, whether it will be called, will come from the people who are really in charge of this country, and that is the american people. while the other side it is busy marking the tea party eurocurrencies, we will listen to them, we will work with them and we will walk amongst them. it will take an awful lot of work. it will take a lot of work to elect a new majority in congress and to take on the problems that are being created out there today. we need to pickup 40 seats in the house. it sounds like a big number. remember in 1994, we picked up

54 seats in that year, and i can tell you right now we have more candidates than we have ever had. our goal is to get a candidate and all 435 seats, and today we have one or more candidates in over 340 of those districts. out of the 100 most competitive districts, about 90 of those there are racists we have much better chances -- and there are races that we have a much better chance of winning. everybody in this room is engaged. your efforts helped win campaigns. your ideas will fuel the future of the conservative movement. you are already part of the fight.

that is why i need you to recruit your friends, your neighbors, people who do not have time to get involved with all this. maybe they went to tea party, but are not quite sold on the republicans. either way, i will ask all of you to reach out, bring your neighbors, your friends, your assistance into this movement to help take back our country. please encourage them to visit our web site, freedompro ject.org. share your thoughts with me. tell us when we are doing the right thing. i think all of you know there is a political rebellion brewing in america. i saw it last night when i was in a room with 50 senior americans who came over to express to meet their outrage.

i saw it this morning when i got on an airplane and the captain came back before we took off to shake my hand and to say to me, keep fighting on our behalf. i knew it when the -- [applause] inhofe i knew it -- i knew it when the flight attendant came up to me. and when a cab driver told me this is happening, a real rebellion going on in america. vince of hamburg i went with the party organized by our local tea party folks. it was on westchester isle, and i mention this because the republican party should not attempt to call off the tee parties. that is the dumbest thing in the

world. what we will do is fix -- respect them, listen to them, and walk amongst them. the other party will never ever do that. i have seen the same thing around the country, americans from all walks of country -- all walks of life in the involved in politics. small business owners and more. working americans who believe in our country and who believe and our constitution are saying enough is enough. i can tell you that the republican congress will not change the world in two years. we will not. we cannot. but we can stop the obama agenda and we can do it quickly. what we can do is to continue to offer better solutions to the

american people to get our country back on track once again. in closing, my pledge the is this -- if you would help me and let a republican majority this november we will be open, we will be transparent, and we will listen. we will stand on principle and we will do the right thing for our country. we will work hard 24/7 to clean up the messes that have been left there for our kids and grandkids. come with me, work with me, we can win this fight. most of you know i played football -- they won a lot of state championships after i was there -- but one thing i learned was this -- never ever ever give up. i have been in a lot of fights like you have. i have been in a lot of tough spots in my career, but i never ever give up. i believe in america. i did not come here to be the

speaker of the house. i came here to fight for our country so our kids and grandkids have the same opportunities that we had grown up. we need to take our country back now so that thousands of opportunities of them -- for them will be there. come join the fight with me. ♪

>> and now for our final speaker, an important one. i want to have your attention for just a moment. how many of you think that the second amendment means just what it says? [applause]

i am going to read you the second part of the second amendment, and i will ask you to chime in on the last word, of a writ of firm. the right of the people to bear arms shall not be infringed. a man, that is great. in a few moments we will hear from wayne lapierre, of the national rifle association, one of the premier spokespersons for the people cost right to bear arms. we hear the talk a lot about a great american. joe gregg rereally is a great american. --çó joe gregory really is a grt american. he has a foundation that helps children.

he developed a webb filter to keep children free from creditors and pornographey. let me tell it to you this way. he is the initial founder of the nra's golden ring of freedom, and to be in the golden ring of freedom, you contribute $1 million to the nra. he did not just pledge it. he did not go on an installment plan. you lay down the money. this is a man who knows how to put his money where his mouth this. you'll be hearing from his mouth, but you should note that he has put his money there, and not only that, someone has said when he gzeroyouyou get joe gr'

money, you get his heart and soul. please welcome joe gregory. >> thank you, everyone. what a privilege it is to be here with you today and to introduce this next great american to you. you know, it was in 1987 that a great american president went to germany and despite the discouragement of his advisers who said he should not do it, or that he could not do it, this american president stood up in front of the berlin wall and declared, mr. gorbachev, tear down this wall.

when i saw that, i said to myself, now, there is a great american president i can believe in. after that, in the 1990's, we had a much different kind of american president in the white house, one who ran with a gun- grabbers and progressive thinkers and who attended to bulldoze the american people with gun-control legislation. and another great american stuck up at that time and challenged this president's lack of factual accuracy. and challenged the foundation of his arguments. and some people said you should

not do that and you cannot do that. this great american's response to that was to repeat it for all those who did not hear and the first timeçó. again, i said, now, there is a great american i can believe in. and i joined the national rifle association as a lifetime member of the next day. and i encourage all of you, if you are not members, to join the national rifle association as well. you know, today sadly we find ourselves in a similar state, against a ruling governmental authority and its misguided themes -- schemes, and this same

great american and the ordination -- organization he heads is leading an effort to protect the second amendment and the rights so critical to ensuring our individual rights from out of control the government juggernaut. i shudder to think what kind of shape this country would be in had it not been for this great american and his organization. i can assure you that without him it would have turned nice little bedford falls into obama ville a long time ago. ladies and gentleman, it is my privilege to introduce to you a guardian of the u.s. constitution and defender of freedom, noted author and straight shooter, i welcome you to please stand and join me in welcoming the executive vice

president and chief executive officer of the national rifle association, mr. wayne lapierre. >> thank you. thank you so much. thank you veryñi much. thank you. i will tell you, it is great to have show gregory up here. i thank you for the introduction. also, i want to thank all of you for being here. every time i come here i see the excitement in the faces of everyone out there, and it takes me back to when i first came to this town. i came here to washington, d.c., because i wanted to make a difference like you. and since then, while more than six administrations and more politicians that you can count

have come and gone, i have been asked over and over again the same question -- they asked me, how did you ever survive in this town? the second amendment, stronger than ever. how did nra do it? millions of americans have seen their rights restored. i know. you have helped us past a lot of those bills. and right to carry reciprocity sweeping across the land. how did the nra do it? how did that and are a defeatxd the assault weapons ban, waiting periods, gun registration, gun owner licensing, and to generations'

worth of anti-gun schemes? how has the nra gained the trust and the support of the american people while becoming the most feared and respected brand of freedom in america? what is the secret of and are a's success? i think the answers to all those questions can be summed up in three simple words -- true and justice. -- truth and justice. the nra has refused to tell the american people anything but the truth. in big cases and in small ones, we have demanded justice and fairness for all americans. truth and justice are the reasons why some of us are still

here in this town, while countless others have come and gone, like the tides on the potomac. americans throughout this whole country know the truth. they instinctively sense what is right, and they instinctively sense what is wrong. n/a cavs what is just. when politicians respect those principles, americans or reward them, and they reward them with their votes and support. but when politicians abandon them, americans run them out of this town on a rail. you have seen it happen before. i am not here today to talk about deficits, carbon credits, bank bailouts, or terrorist trials or obamacare. but i will say this --

politicians in washington today could do more good for this country and their careers if they would stop the damn lying. [applause] stopped telling us things that simply are not true. here is what i mean. last march, everybody, from the white house, congress, to the press, started saying mexican drug lords were arming themselves with guns from the 90 united states. >> we are told that 90% of the weapons come from the united we need to shut it off. >> when i heard that, those same

sound bites is being repeated, my b.s. detector bounced off the wall. i am sure yours did, too. i sent the news crew down to the mexican border. here is the truth. >> the so-called river of guns -- >> we have seen in nearly 90% of those arms come from the united states. >> it is a bunch of bull. >> it is a numbers game. the only know what they want you to know or no only about the weapons that they want you to trace. that is the intelligence data. >> when pressed, the leader of the atf said that was the case. >> there are still a lot of fire arms in mexico >.

>> i guarantee you cannot put walmart and buy these grenades or rocket launchers. >> there was also concern for us, by sheriff's setting up road checks along main arteries. >> i have never run into a truck load of guns. >> that is not what senator dianne feinstein wanted to hear. >> what i hear is a lot more than a few hundred. it is really in the thousands. >> that is because the senator is teaming with the obama white house. >> had not backed off at all for my belief that the assault weapons ban made sense. >> pick the time and place.

no question about that. >> the white house was not telling the truth. i went on face the nation to warn the american people that 90% number was about 100% b.s. >> they are trying to put this in show -- this issue on the back of the united states in mexico. >> it may not be 90 percent sign. -- 90%. >> the people who have testified under oath, and the me tell you what they said. i am not sure where they get these numbers. the investigation that we have -- >> nobody is claiming a 90%

number. >> people used to look at politicians and was like some jay leno kind of joke. he would sort of shrug and say, you know those politicians. we never really expected them to tell the truth anyway. but now, it is not just cynical what is going on. it is sinister. is a combination of political dishonesty to serve an agenda and media dishonesty to serve an agenda. they are feeding off one another and having a destructive effect on our system of government. here is what happens to powerful politicians when they do not tell the truth. bill clinton found out the hard way. so did a lot of other politicians who paid the price for his dishonesty. first, it was waiting periods, and then it was the so-called

assault weapons ban. mr. clinton's crime bill was a crime, especially for his party. the american people did not want his ban. i saw them for the front that they were, so they keep his party out of congress, pulling the plug on 40 years of democratic control. they sent the first house speaker packing since the civil war. i remember, meeting with tom foley, and meeting with jack brooks, who is chairman of the house judiciary committee. i told them to not let bill clinton talk you into this thab. what he is saying is not true and a lying will beat you guys. so they left the truth behind. they walked out on that rickety old plank, and on election day,

the voters came in and cut off that plank with a chainsaw. you remember, you were there. [applause] even bill clinton admitted that nra was the reason that the republicans controlled the house. four years later, with monocot making the headlines, clinton ran back the gun control like a call ex-girlfriend. you remember. then the truth leaked out. even while he demanded more and more gun laws, the justice department was refusing to enforce laws they already had. here is what our former president, charlton heston, had to say. >> does that bother you when someone commits a crime with a gun that mr. clinton pops up on tv with another gunnel law?

under clinton, federal prosecutions are half of what they used to be. mr. clinton, when what you say is wrong, that is a mistake. when you know it is wrong, it is a lie. remember? [applause] >> i got to tell you, bill clinton liked that about as much as a deposition. so he tried to change the subject and demonize his critics and frighten the american people by attacking the big, bad and are a. >> you have a higher percentage of people in jail than all the other advanced countries, and they have a lower gun-death rate. they do not have an nraçó in thr country. there are against anything that

requires anybody to do anything as a member of society that helps to make it safer. >> but while he squinted and scowled and wagged his finger, people were dying, as a direct result of his refusal to prosecute federal gun crimes. and the nra had had enough. >> i have come to believe he needs a certain level of violence in this country. he is willing to accept a certain level of killing to further his agenda, and a vice president, too. how much can you explain this dishonesty we get out of this administration? after that interview, people in this town told me i was over the top. they came up to me and told me i had gone too far. he cannot take on this president, they said, even if it is true. the following sunday, tim russert try to make me back

down, and the truth was the truth. tonight it was killing people, and somebody needed to say so. -- th19denyingdenying it was kig people, and somebody needed to say so. we have federal gun wallaws said gangs with guns. bill clinton has the big stick. he can pick them up now under existing federal law and send them to japan for up to five years. they let them roam the street and let them go to their next killing when they could take them off the street right now and the next killing would never occur. >> an american citizen, the head of the nra is saying the

president and vice president of united states tolerate killing for political reasons. is that what you are saying? >> i need a good answer as to why they are not prosecuting. the effect of their policies, by not taking the drug dealer with a gun, and the gang member with a gun, is somebody later getting killed. if they pick them up under existing laws enter them in the penitentiary, they would save lives. they did it in richmond. we cut the murder rate in richmond by 60%. >> you will not apologize for your comments? >> no. >> you stand by your comments? >> what it all to be -- >> we want to hold you accountable.

>> i stand by my comments. [applause] we were all on the side of truth and justice. the truth was enforcement worked. yet the clinton administration ridiculed the program. in fact, the deputy attorney general, now the attorney general, eric holder, was in the national media calling the richmond program a cookie-cutter approach. i mean, the shameful truth was

that while they could have been saving lives, clinton pushed more phony gun bans built on the allies that criminals ever obey any laws. if you think that is all ancient history, i will tell you, it is still going on today. when pennsylvania governor edward rendell was on face the nation, i called him out on it. >> there's no rational reason that we should allow people to legally possess these types of semi-automatic weapons. >> you believe the assault weapons ban should be reinstated? >> the governor says up there in philadelphia. let me tell you the reality. the former u.s. attorney said there is no risk of a felon putting a gun in his pocket and walking out on the street. they said the problem in philadelphia is the revolving door of the criminal justice

system, letting criminals back on the street again and again. the chief of the police department recently said there's no reason to talk about gun control. they do not enforce any law they have. he talks about the consequences. leaning honest gun owners for crimes may not have consequences for criminals, but it does for politicians to buy into that lie. let's talk about one right now. clinton convinced how or to walk out on that rot fink plank of gun control in the 2000 election, and on election day, out for learned the hard way how inconvenient the truth could be. even bill clinton admitted that maybe it was not such a good idea after all. >> the nra and ralph nader stand

right behind the supreme court in their ability to claim that they put george bush in the white house. in new hampshire, and arkansas, may be in tennessee, and in missouri, and you got to give it to them. they did a good job here that have more to do it than anyone else. >> keep in mind, and i say over and over again, when he talks about and are a, all nra is is people all over the country, that stand up for truth and justice. we talked about the truth now. let's talk about the justice part. when the authorities cannot protect you, they have no authority to try to deny you the right to protect yourself.

it is not right, it is not just, but it is exactly what they did in new orleans after a hurricane katrina. if you want to see in justice on a catastrophic scale, look at what happened in new orleans. >> please open the door. >> m-16's, they were pointing them at us. >> are you kidding me? >> i read thought they were going to kill me. >> they were going to deny your rights. >> are taking away their protection, and it is wrong, wrong, wrong. >> the order had been given to

go house to house, often with guns drawn, to evacuate residents and confiscate their firearms. >> we became fearful for our lives. >> until this occurrence, i did not realize what the necessity was for it, but now i did. now i will get a gun and i will learn how to use the gun. i will protect my home. >> had my bible and i had my gun. [applause] >> the whole nightmare in new orleans brought in more than a million new members on the nra rolls. we fought to get their guns

back, and we fought to get lost in that state and 27 other states to ensure americans that they never again will have their rights wrenched away by car in the authorities in times of crisis, and that is the law of the land today. but we also fight injustice anywhere we find it. just ask gary tedesco. he liked to go hunting before he went to school. it helped put food on his family cost table. but the big city elitists thought gary's family was worthy of radical ridicule.

that is the way they think. one day, carroll went hunting before school. when the school found at, they brought him into question him. when they told -- when he told them the truth, they turned his life upside down because the elitists wanted to single him out and make him an example. watch this. >> i do not understand that they kept saying he was on campus because he was clearly off campus. >> he was not on the school grounds and he was affected by an illegal search and seizure. having a shotgun is not illegal. >> the principal said they were concerned that he was a threat. >> i am just a normal kid.

nothing to make me look like a bad kid. >> they do not believe he is a threat. all they bring up is to support what seems to be very anti common sense. >> what the think when you saw that room filled with people, there to support you? >> i am glad they are there to support me because this is a small town and people need to use common sense. >> it strikes a chord with people because carey is being punished because it is not what the administration feels should be maintained. -- should be mainstream. >> where do you think you would be if he did not have the nra behind you? >> they are an organization of people who understand the importance of the constitution, what makes our country what it

is. >> even though gary did not do anything wrong, authorities went after him, this using their power, and they turned justice into a joke. that is the kind of lead his arrogance we're up against the day as we sit here. it is the same arrogance ec from elitists like michael bloomberg or from charles schumer he says freedom is ok for us, but it is not ok for you. they are more than happy to have armed protection for themselves, but if you are a member -- but yoif you are not a member of the elite group, you are not worthy

of their freedom. i was glad to tell them the truth about right to carry in this country. we started this effort in the 1980's. we only had three states. 40 states now have right to carry laws. every step of the way we had to listen to the hysterical predictions from senator schumer. there is no attempt to repeal those laws. what schumer likes isñi what new york city has, where the rich and famous, the wall street bankers, celebrities, politicians, they all get their permits, yet the average person in the bronx the most needs is flat out of luck. when seconds matt redellter, the american public wants to protect themselves as a fundamental with believe that i have a right to

protect myself. senator schumer may not agree with that. michael bloomberg may not believe that. but the american people believe with it. >loss that the night the right to send suspense -- to self defense -- the u.s. supreme court said the right to self- defense in the home is fundamental to the second amendment. but their ruling applied only to the federal enclaveas like washington, d.c. that is why next month the nra will argue before the supreme

court for incorporation for the second amendment against infringement by cities and states. ñiall americans must have a free and ifull accessñr to that amendment wherever they live in this country. or fairness will be a fictionñr and justice simply will not exist. 'tleman, we live in a time of change. today,ñi as we stand here in washington, and watch this young administration, with powerful majorities on capitol hill, and and a collection looming that is

likely to be revolutionary, our leaders would be wise to review the history we have discussed here today. whether it is the distortions of the obama white house regarding mexico's drug war or the dishonesty of the clinton white house regarding crime or the truths they failed toñrñi tell r the injustices they are willing to inflict upon us, every one of ráicalg cause the air raid warning sirens to go off in every office in this town. they need to understand that the decisions they make will have profound and permanent consequences on our country, but also on their careers.

xda decade ago, peter jennings wrapped up the momentous 2000 election with an interesting analysis of the nra possible. >> i regretçad that nra leader s frustrated. >> he knew exactly what he was doing. >> the director of theçó nra wet off the deep and the other day. >> he was picking a fight where he did not know the rules. >> ladies and gentlemen, the roles are tell the truth. ñr-- the rules art tell the tru, demand justice, stand with the american people because they know those rules. ñithey lived by those roles, and they demand those leaders

respect those rules. i am standing here to tell you and them defending truth and demanding justice is not just politically the safest thing to do. in the end, it is the right thing to do. because truth and justice inevitably, he eventually, and invariably will always prevail. thank you for inviting me here today, and every day, every one of you come all always defend freedom. thank you very much. thank you. ♪ >> truth, justice, and the

american way. that is what we are fighting for. thank you, wayne lapierre. i want to be sure to make sure that you did not forget to register to win a free cruise for two. there is a package to fort lauderdale. good to both 505 -- go to booth 505. please note that there are also doors at the top of the stairs. enjoy your evening. i hope many of you will be back here for the dinner. those who cannot be here, tgo to xpace. we will see you tonight.

♪ >> we will have live coverage throughout the conservative political action conference. george will and fred thompson. former house speaker newt gingrich and glenn beck speak on saturday. tonight live at 8:00 eastern,ñió the current situation in afghanistan. we will take your calls. >> sometimes i think a story is a series of accidents. it is like a pile of cars in a snowstorm. >> how did the united states and

up in vietnam? sunday, on the battle that ended french colonial rule in indochina. to stoyou will find a one-stop at cs-an.org. >> the president signed today creating a bipartisan commission to recommend ways to lower federal deficits. this after connors rejected a similar body with considerable more enforcement power. the president's comments are about 10 minutes.

>> hello, everybody. all right. good morning, everybody. when i took office america faced three challenges. one was a financial crisis brought on by reckless speculation that threaten to choke off all lending. this helped to spark the deepest recession since the great depression from which we are still recovering. that recession aggravated a severe fiscal crisis brought on by bad habits in washington. the crisis record the government to make immediate emergency investment that added to our accumulated debt. critical investments that have helped break the back of the recession and a growth for job

creation,ñi but now with so many americans out of work, the task of recovery is far from complete. in the short term, we're going to be taking steps to encourage business to create jobs that will continue to be my top priority. still, there is no doubt we will also have to address the long- term quandary of a government that routinely an extravagantly spends more than it takes in. when i walked into the door of the white house, our government was spending about 25% of gdp, but taking in only 616% without action, our future will beclouded and it will saddle every child in american with an intolerable burden. this is not news. the budget surpluses