to offer. i pledge my own best efforts. today, i ask you for yours. thank you very much. [applause] you very much. [applause] .

>> president obama signs an order. former republican senator an [unintelligible] this is 10 minutes. >> america faced challenges. one was a financial crisis brought on by reckless speculation. this helped to spark the deepest recession since the great depression for which we are recovering. the recession held to aggravate

an already severe fiscal crisis. the economic crisis requires the government to make investments that added to our accumulated debt. critical investments have helped break the back of the recession but now with so many americans out of work, the path to 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. there is no doubt that we will have to address the long-term quandary of the government that routinely and extravagantly spends more than it takes in. when i walked into the door of the white house, our government was spending 25% of gdp but taking in 16%.

without action, the accumulated weight of that structural deficit, the ever-increasing debt will cloud our future and it will saddle every child in america with an intolerable burden. this is not news. the budget surplus -- the federal debt has exploded. the trajectory is clear and it is disturbing. the politics of dealing with chronic deficits is fraught with hard choices and therefore, it is treacherous to officeholders in washington. no one has been too eager to deal with it. that is where these gentlemen come in. alan simpson and erskine boles are trying to restore reason in the fiscal debate and come up with answers as co-chairman of the committee. i am asking them to produce

clear recommendations of how to cover the cost of all federal programs by 2015. and to meaningfully improve or long term fiscal picture. i have every confidence that will do that. no one is better qualified than these two. alan simpson is a wyoming truth teller. in the dictionary there is the word flinty and there is simpson's picture. he put the people's welfare ahead of petty politics. he made the tough choices and that is to close deficits and played an important role in bipartisan agreement. erskine bolls ran the small

business administration and served as president clinton's chief of staff. he brokered the 1997 budget agreement that helped produce the first balanced budget in 30 years. one is a good republican and the other a good democrat. they are answering their country's call to free our future from the stranglehold of debt. the commission will lead with structure in such a way that rises above partisanship. there will be 18 members. in addition to the others will be appointed by me. six will be appointed by or -- republican leaders in six by democratic leaders. their recommendations will require that approval of 14 of 18 members. that assures that any recommendation coming at of this effort and some forward to congress has to be bipartisan in nature. this commission is patterned on a bill i supported for binding

commission that was proposed by kim conrad and the republican senator. their proposal failed recently in the senate but i hope congressional leaders in both parties can step away from the partisan bickering and join this effort to serve the national interest. as important as this commission is, our fiscal challenges too great to be solved with one step alone and we cannot wait to act. that is why last week, i signed into law the paygo bill. the u.s. should pay as we go and live within our means. just like with responsible families and businesses. this law is what helps get deficits under control in the 1990's to reduce surpluses by the end of the decade. it was suspended during the last decade and we saw deficits explode. by reinstituting it, we took an important step toward addressing the deficit problems.

that is also why after taking steps to increase access to credit i called for a three-year freeze on discretionary spending starting next year. this freeze will not affect medicare, medicaid, or social security spending. it will not affect national security spending, including veterans benefits but all other discretionary spending will be subject to this freeze. these are tough times. we cannot keep spending like they are not. that is why we're seeking [inaudible] because if we do not, health care costs will become the single largest driver of our federal government. reform legislation in the house and senate will bring down deficits and i am looking forward to meeting with members of both parties and both chambers next week to get this done. that is also why this year, we're proposing a responsible

budget. we proposed budget reductions and terminations that will yield $20 billion in savings. we are ending loopholes and tax giveaways for companies. this would provide more savings than any budget in the past 10 years. i know the issue of deficits has stirred debate. some believe this should be deferred and others will not enter into discussions with up preconditions. we have to be willing to take the hard steps necessary. those who believe government has a responsibility to meet, these are urgent challenge is. if we do not bring the budget

under control we will not be able to meet our most basic obligations. america's fiscal problems will not be solved tonight. they have been growing for years. it will take time to wind down. with the commission i am establishing today, the other steps we are pursuing, i believe we are putting america on the path for fiscal reform and responsibility. i want to thank them for taking on a difficult and perhaps the biggest tax -- perhaps thankless task. they will give their work with a sense of integrity and commitment. i believe part of the reason they will be effective is, although one is a strong democrat and the other is a strong republican, these are examples of people who put country first. they know how to disagree

without being disagreeable. there is a sense of stability and a sense that there moments when they set politics aside to do what is right. that is the kind of spirit we need. i am confident the products they put forward will be honest and clear and give a path to both parties in terms of how we have to address these challenges. thank you very much.

there you go. >> [inaudible] >> everything is on the table. that is how this bill works. >> [inaudible] >> for more information on the federal budget commission, visit our web page, c-span.org. after meeting with president obama, the dali lama addressed reporters. arbour gibbs said that the president hopes there will be talks between the dolly llama's land and china. this is about five minutes. >> whati feel great honor in

seeing the president. since my childhood, i always admire america, not the economy or military power but their democracy and freedom and human values. i am happy and as usual, the first day i mentioned [unintelligible] two commitments. that is, as you know, the human value in order to bring peace in the world and peace to family, peaceful individuals. i mentioned that but i also should mention the female

biologically more sensitive about other things. the president, he agreed that. i wish the leadership is more female. should takea [unintelligible] role. and raise harmony and keep one tradition, faith to one's own religion but must respect all world religions. that is the basis of genuine harmony among the different traditions. so then third, actually, since

2001, we already have elected leadership so usually i introduce him as my boss. since then, my position is the same. i have more responsibility to speak on behalf of others and calls for peace. so i mentioned, the president himself inquired about these things. about [inaudible] and the president was support ive and i tend to see his --even

before he became president. he always is showing his genuine concern and including his visit to [unintelligible] and his concern about tibet and other global issues. i expressed my thanks to him. that is the main thing. >> he will be happy to answer questions after he comes back from his meeting with the secretary of state. his holiness will take questions this afternoon. thank you very much. >> make some preparations, some questions. good questions. do not ask silly questions. [laughter]

[inaudible conversations] > >> the dalai lama will receive the democracy service metal. we will have that for you live at 10:30 a.m. eastern. now, kathleen sebelius unveils a new report on health insurance premium increases. it comes after lacrosse

announced plans to raise rates on its california customers by as much as 39%. this is about 20 minutes. >> ok. good morning, everyone. i am kathleen sebelius, the secretary of health and human services, and i wanted to talk to you for a few minutes today about a new report that we are releasing. you can get hard copies here or visit our web site, healthreform.gov. the report documents some of the extreme premium increases that some of america's largest insurance companies have requested over the past year.

to shine a spotlight on what is happening to families and small business owners across the country. in this last year alone, the largest insurance company in michigan requested a 56% raise hike. in oregon, we saw a 20% hike. in maine it was 18% and it was denied. recently, the welpoint anthem request for 39% hike which would affect their customers. to give an example of what that means if you are dealing with this as an insurance customer, we have a letter from a mother in california whose premiums have been raised 38% recently.

that translates to a family $7,000 more a year for the same benefit package that she had last year. one of her son -- her sons has type 1 diabetes so she has almost no choices in the marketplace for a child with a precondition. it is impossible to find coverage. she could either pay the $7,000 extra or drop coverage altogether. we're seeing this at the same time were not only is there an economic downturn around the country, we know that insurance companies are not suffering that same kind of downturn. the five largest insurers in america have declared more than $12 billion worth of profits in 2009. wellpoint posted a $2.7 billion profit in the third quarter of 2009 a week before they filed for a 39% rate increase. last week, i sent a letter to

the ceo of anthem which is a blue cross company and ask for explanation of these rate increases and in part in response, the company has suggested they will delay the increases for two months, responding to our requests and to discuss this situation with members of congress. i think these kind of rate increases gives a highlight to why the president said a year ago we need to address health reform, comprehensive health reform as part of addressing the economy. we will not fix the economy without fixing our health-care system. it is what he has invited a week from today leadership from the democrats and republicans from the house and senate to sit down and roll up their sleeves and talk about a comprehensive

health reform plan moving forward and why he is urging congress to continue on the job they started until they finish this project for the american people. the plans that are pending in congress would give some additional authority to this agency, providing oversight on insurance companies across the country, making transparent a kind of rate increases that are filed on a routine basis but often hard to determine and hard to highlight. there would have to be available to americans and able to see the rate increases that are pending but the justification for those rate increases. the house and senate bills [unintelligible] companies would have to spend a majority of the money coming in the door on paying medical benefits, not on overhead or advertising or ceo salaries.

we have a new consumer from the marketplace. we have choices for customers like a mom in california who is caught. there continue to be examples out of california. we have a woman who saw and then raise your rates 30% last year and said as a self-employed hard-working person she has no other options for health coverage. she is typical of the 800,000 customers caught in that market plan but also consumers across the country who have no affordable option, and no way to avoid the rate increases they're seeing. we think it shines a light on the urgency for health reform and again, the report is available on healthreform.gov or here in hard copy.

i would be pleased to answer some questions. >> [inaudible] there are other name in the latest report. are you going after specific targets? [inaudible] >> i think there is not an intent to select certain companies. this is a widespread. we're talking about the data that is available and accessible. the companies we now have filed these rate increases. they're not isolated cases. we would like transparency for every company in every state in the country so these would not be picking and choosing. in most places in the country the marketplaces are concentrated. the largest companies in every

state but one are the companies we selected for their rate increases. they dominate the market. >> this is the problem the president was talking about. everyone understands the problem. can you walk us through what bemis -- what democrats and congress will present to get this done? >> the democrats have been engaged in working on solutions for over year. comprehensive legislation by the house and senate, a lot of it is similar. there are -- the president wants to hear submissions from republicans to suggest they are interested in health reform. but so far have not come to the table with any kind of comprehensive proposal. the opportunity is there next week to talk about the

principles that the president feels are important. lowering costs for families and businesses and the congressional budget office has suggested that if you look at the individual markets which are report focuses on and look at the impact of the house and senate bills on the individual market, comparing similar benefit packages and what will happen with health reform, premiums will go down between 14% and 20% by passing the bill. addressing costs, addressing long-term sustainability does not lower the trajectory of health care costs to cover all four or -- more folks and does not get rid of the current insurance practices which knock people out or throw people out of the marketplace. >> you were an insurance commissioner yourself. don't states have the current authority or the ability to take a hard-line against these kinds of rate increases?

if so, why are we not seeing more activity from the state to manage this? >> some states do and some states do not. in california, where the rate increase was filed, they have the so-called file and use rating authority. the company basically puts the rate increase in place, files it with the insurance commissioner's office, and after the fact, the insurance commissioner can go back and deny it or lower it if it does not meet him in california, a medical loss ratio of 70%. the laws vary around the country. some have to have prior approval. in the examples we give here, the rate had to be filed in advance and the insurance commissioner did take action. what we would anticipate again, what health reform anticipates is the first line of defense

would be the state insurance commissioners. they're on the ground and they have the data collection ability. we would have also a very transparent process nationally with not only rates being filed in advance with transparency of what the justification for those rate filings are but a medical loss ratio which would be tougher than california and companies would be expected to live up to that. finally, a specification that if a company wanted to participate in the new exchanges in the new marketplaces once that were set up in 2014, one of the criteria would be to examine the practice between the time the legislation was signed and that time the marketplace got set up to see what they have done to their customers in the intervening time. huge rate increases would make a company an unlikely participant in the new marketplace.

>> you said in your report this was profit based, profit motivated. insurance companies are saying this is health care costs. they have a pool of people that are sicker. what is your position [unintelligible] >> we do not want companies to be insolvent. no plans get paid. there is a balance between making sure that there is enough money in the door to pay claims and their ability to pay claims. insurance companies in the health-insurance market have made 250% profits in the last five years. in 2009 alone, at a time when we saw huge economic downturn where

the gdp posted a minus percent increase, we had the top five insurers that had 12.5 $2 billion in profit. to suggest this is in line with health care costs which are exceeding typical inflation costs, these profits are wildly excessive, way over anyone's estimate. there are companies where the top executives at these companies are paid up to $24 million each. huge overhead costs. lots of advertising budgets. the ability to say, what percentage of what you are collecting is spent on health payments, providers, hospitals, madison, and what percentage is profit or administrative overhead is something that

allied should be shined on and that is part of what the transparency would be about. i know we have some -- we d on't. >> the health care summit next week, up to now we have two democratic bills. is it your expectation there will be one democratic [unintelligible] or are we looking at two? >> the president indicated he intends to have a proposal which we will put on the web site and available for public consumption before the summit. there will be one proposal. >> that proposal will be coming from the president and what it represents the best of the two bills? >> i certainly hope so.

i think it is the president and the idea is that it will take some of the best ideas and put them into a framework. >> are the increases affecting people in the market? >> all individual markets. >> it is percentage [unintelligible] i am trying to get a sense of how many americans are affected. why do you think health insurance companies are doing this? >> i am not sure. millions of americans are affected by the individual market. it is the least secure marketplace and is one that people have virtually no options. they do not have an employer

negotiating for discounts in providers and discounts in pharmaceuticals. they do not have group protection. i do know if it affects millions more now because a lot of companies have dropped their group coverage, unfortunately. more people are in the individual marketplace. insurance companies are often responsible to shareholders as well as policyholders. there is a a dual responsibility in terms of a fiduciary making money [unintelligible] when you are selling health insurance, you make more money by having people who do not h get sick by paying out less in benefits, by having a market strategy that has a healthier

market place instead of basic care marketplace. i think that these are strategies that are typically employed to some degree or another in the individual market where there are not necessarily rolls up the road that govern it. they're not the writing rules that exist and people are out there on their own. >> we are going live to the conservative political action conference in washington. at the podium, marsha blackburn. >> a conservative washington [unintelligible] we have lots of candidates with us tonight. if your name is on the ballot in 2010, stand up. we want to know who you are and able to stand with you in

support you -- and support you. [applause] these are the individuals that will take us to victory. we want to thank [unintelligible] for tonight's complementary coffee. "a culture of corruption" by by michelle malkin. i have the honor -- i now have the honor to introduce my dear friend, colleague, and former down the street neighbor. we came to look him in

tennessee. he made his mark as a [unintelligible] he held a private law practice. he was elected in 1994 after he drove a red truck from one end of the state to the other. he was reelected with more votes than any other tennessee politician in history. outside the public service, he enjoyed the successful action career appearing in "die hard 2" and "law & order". please welcome senator fred thompson. [applause]

>> thank you. i am looking this tennessee night we're having here. i like what you are doing. keep up the good work. to make us all proud. i am glad to see everyone here tonight. looking prosperous and all. they're saying there is an economic downturn. i do not believe it. i know people who are getting rich in every state of the union doing nothing but selling tea party t-shirts. i am honored to be able to present the "courage under fire" award. it is given to people who show courage under fire. it is people who put principles

before anything else. they have proven they put principles before their own interests and their own welfare. it was given first to charlton heston who we all love and mess. what a wonderful american. [applause] that alone makes it an honored award. tonight we have two people who deserve this word very much. before mass., there was virginia and new jersey. before virginia and new jersey, there was new york 23 and [unintelligible] [applause] if ever there was any proof to the adage that the fight is more

important than the victory, it was this case. because what doug hoffman did i just walking into a friend's place one day and saying i am concerned about my country, i want to do something about it, we'll make an starting from there, against all odds, it would have been -- had it not been for a certain set of circumstances it would not have happened again. he went forth and inspired a nation and reminded conservatives everywhere, around the country, that courage and dedication and doing what is right for the right thing could work, could succeed and people supported him from all around the country. he almost pulled off the tremendous upset. he laid an example. he has a bright future.

i am honored to call him my friend and we are all honored by his presence and we are indebted to you. congratulations for this award tonight. [applause] you don't often put the words "new york" and "conservative" in the same sentence. we're doing that tonight. that fellow has walked in and says you have me, i want to help my country, it was the office of mike long. mr. conservative in new york. mike is the other recipient of the war. he has been working hard for many years, helping conservative

causes and supporting republicans when they deserve his report and not supporting them when they did not. some have been saying he has been jousting at windmills. i have news for them. he is winning and the windmills are losing. thank you very much for what you have done. new york 23 inspire the nation. congratulations to both of you. we have an award here. [applause] please step up. let me say that in presenting

this which is the charlton heston award, we continue the tradition. charlton heston presented this award in south africa and said it is a great honor to present this award in its first incarnation to a fellow actor. we have another actor presenting it to some courageous fellows. here they are. >> the pennsylvania flintlock rifle is the quintessential firearm. it was said during the revolutionary war that george washington sought out soldiers who owned these rifles. their accuracy and the accuracy of the frontiersmen were legendary. these replicas of the pennsylvania flintlock are symbols of the bravery of the colonial man who stood

against tyranny and unbeatable odds. congratulations. [applause] ok. i want to say thank-you but i have a real problem. , going to get this home -- how am i going to get this home with

michael bloomberg being the mayor of new york. michael, i am coming home. [laughter] [applause] i am supposed to say thanks. thank you very much. i hundley -- i am humbly and very surprised to receive this. there are a lot of people including many of you out there that were involved in the 23rd. some which i probably should not mention but i am going to and put you in trouble. certainly, senator thompson and his wife, dick armey, too many people. i could go on. i will thank you for standing up for america and thank you for this award and i accept it in the honor of all those people who joined in the fight that

started the brush fire in the northern part of new york. thank you and god bless you. [applause] i want to say thank you. you came in in the darkest hour. you were my calvarcavalry. you all fought hard and this award should be for all of us. you stepped up to the plate and fought hard and we have awakened america and the silent majority. hopefully that will carry on in toto the 2010 election. thank you, chairman long for

believing in me and giving me the opportunity to represent the people of the 23rd district. the fight continues on. thank you, everybody and thank- you for all your help. [applause] >> thank you for your courage and leadership and reminding all of us, i think the adams quote is appropriate. it does not take the majority but rather, and i rate minority to build brushfires in people's minds. you have done that for us. we thank you so much for that courage and the leadership that you brought to this past election cycle. we're all going to

[unintelligible] for 2010. [applause] i am so pleased to welcome our next participant to the podium. [unintelligible] has more than 30 years of experience in law and policy. please welcome cleta mitchell. [applause] >> as was said earlier, george will is the number one columnist in america which imakes him the

number one columnist in the world. he has been riding twice a week telling us how to think about things. -- writing twice a week telling us how to think about things. culture, politics, baseball, and books. george wrote that if he does not write a dozen columns about books in the year, he is not doing his job. he has graced our sunday morning as a bounding participant in "-- founding participant in "this week with david brinkley." we do not care about who this week is with because the one constant voice of sanity and reason and facts is george will. [applause] i have always said and those who

know me might not be surprised to learn this, i have always said you can tell about a person by his or her enemies. george is the scourge of many. let me mention just two. it tells us about him. george's in particular on the bad list of the environmental crazies. [applause] george, long before climategate and the emails that demonstrated that there is no facts or [unintelligible] george said there are no facts and no science. they are so tolerant on the left a began a campaign to get newspapers to drop his column

unsuccessful. it gives credence to one of my favorite axioms. for liberals, believing is seeing. which is a corollary to another of his axioms. liberals are for anything as long as it is mandatory. the other set of enemies are my favorites and that is the crazy on the campaign reform. he has written many columns. george calls this the five most beautiful words in english language. the first five words in the

fifth amendment. congress shall make no law. [applause] jurors has -- george has written 13 books. his last book for this one, george wrote that writing a column presents the hon. rules about catholic confession. the blunt, be brief, and be gone. he said the clamourusous media e

tugging at america's sleeves, saying, pay attention to this. on behalf of conservatives and all who love ameritech, i want to say thank-you to george will for telling us how to think about things. and telling us and saying things we know what we do not know the words to say. on behalf of our and to you, our audience tonight, i present to you george will and i say to you, pay attention to this. george will. [applause] >> thank you. thank you very much. [applause] thank you.

for cleta mitchell to introduce a mere journalist is equivalent to having [unintelligible] some year cpac will come to its senses and have me introduce the most conservative journalist in washington. for 30 years, a political and symbol -- ensemble have been performing. [unintelligible] please be seated and take note of the nearest exit. in case of an emergency, please remain seated and away your federal bailout.

when public policy has become a punch line, nation has a problem. this is going to be a very good year and what a difference a year does make. you saw just yesterday the issuing of the mount vernon statement, part of the ferment of conservative ideas that is under way. a great conservative once said people more often need to be reminded then instructed. the american people need to be reminded of what we are conservatives and why we are getting an enormous assist from the obama administration. how to think about the challenges ahead of us. i am trying to tell a group as opinionated as this how to think about and present the real problems that we're facing now. i propose to be old as the first

grader named susie who was in a class when the teacher said i want all of you to draw a picture. the teacher walked around and came to susie and said, what are you trying a picture of? she said i am drawing a picture of god. the teacher said, no one knows what god looks like. susie said, they will in a few minutes. [laughter] in my few minutes i want to tell you how i think we can make your argument. the liberal conservative argument in our country is alive and well. it turns on the polar values of western thought and equality. today, conservatives stress freedom. they're willing to accept greater disparities of social of come and they are regarding the

multiplication of entitlement with an mentality that is inimical to the attitudes essential for free citizens. liberals tend to stress equality. not equality of opportunity but about come. they tend to regard the multiplication of [unintelligible] as enhancing the public good. they are for spreading dependency. dependency on government is not an unfortunate corollary of what they're advocating. it is their agenda. it is that to against which we might take our stand. the retreat of the state that began in may, 1979 with the election of margaret thatcher and accelerated with the inauguration of ronald reagan.

the retreat of the state has been reversed to a point at which we are learning to the point erasure the distinction between the public and private sectors. in the process, we are refusing to learn from the past. we're beginning to replicate many of the state's the new deal. no one doubts that the new deal failed and its -- in its objective which was to put people back to work. we're replicating its techniques. in september, 1933, with hugger stalking the land and unemployment at 20%, the new deal had a brainstorm. to demand and trigger a recovery in the economy. they ordered the [unintelligible] we spent $3 billion to move car

purchases from september into august. all of which proves that mitch mcconnell [unintelligible] there is no education in the second kick of a meal. look how the world has changed. 16 months ago, new york city was the financial capital of the world. it is not the financial capital of the u.s., this town is. we have something like state capitalism in which capital credit, the lifeblood of the economy, is increasingly treated as a public utility to be priced and allocated by political forces. this makes capital a slush fund and inevitably, it funds crony capitalism. much of this, we must face, began under a republican administration. with detroit, where we pioneered, it was a republican administration that subsidized failure.

i do not know why the bush administration felt so strongly about this. they were haunted by the memories of the urban unrest and civil disorders that accompanied the bankruptcy of studebaker. today, we have an administration that can envision a world without the internal combustion engine but not a world without the chrysler corporation. what is wrong with this picture? ronald reagan said "the rule in washington is, if it moves taxes,, regulated. subsidize it to get it moving again. that summarizes our policy. we have done with our passion to make more sectors of american society, more dependent on this

town is too short circuit milton friedman's fundamental insight. we have a profit and loss system. the profit is to incentivize risk-taking. the loss side is to punish reckless risk. when you break that -- [applause] whedetroit is the largest and most lurid and garish example of the dependency agenda. let me go down the list. very soon, the two most important decisions a family makes will be conducted with a government monopoly. from cradle to grave, aspirations of the welfare state, the marches on. one of the first things done in january 2009 is to expand schip. created by republicans and a

small program. republicans thought it would stay small. it was for the working poor. now it has been expanded. families with incomes up to $125,000 a year are eligible for schip. there is no reason to expanded as much other than to raise a generation of young americans who consider getting their health care from government normal. . .

>> they want the status to be dependent on the ramshackle plantation of public education in the city of washington. [applause] there was no other reason to have a public auction in the health-care bill, other than to try and drive out of competition all private providers. it was clearly a first step toward a single payer system. turn on your television at night. you are going to see competition all over your television screen between progressive automobile insurance, arguing with dai co automotive insurance, are -- arguing with state farm auto insurance. there is no reason we are not available -- not able to buy

health insurance across state lines, other than to increase our dependence. that is so obvious that even a cave man can understand it. [laughter] dependencies explains the hostility in the current administration to help savings accounts. you become eligible for tax- deferred savings out of which you pay your regular expenses. the trouble is that emancipator people, because they take their own money and buy what they want. it has been well said, no one wants is a rental car. you take care of what you own -- no one eyewashes a rental car. it is part of the dependency agenda to stigmatize and delegitimize large portions of the private sector, such as the pharmaceutical industry. if you confiscate all the

profits of the american pharmaceutical industry, you would lower the pharmaceutical component of our health care bill from 10% all the way down to 8%. in the process, you would kill the industry's capacity for innovation. insurance companies are now in for their turn on the cross. the confiscated all the profits of health insurance industry in our country, you could pay two days of american health care. part of the dependency agenda is to encourage an entitlement mentality, to encourage the entitlement mentality of which the trial bar prospers. it is the entitlement we are told we have that if anything bad happens to us, even as a result of our own imbecilic behavior, we are entitled to sue someone to be made whole. that is why america has a this place since of personal

responsibility. america has all these weird labels on things that we buy. if you go to mcdonald's and buy a cup of hot coffee, it comes in a styrofoam cup with'hot'stamped on it. all because a woman is killed and burned herself, sued mcdonald's, and collected. -- a woman spilled it and burn herself. you can buy a letter opener that says safety goggles recommended. you can buy at a clothing iron and that says do not iron clothes on body. you can buy a child's stroller that says "remove child before folding." [laughter]

i tend to subscribe to the garth brooks theory of personal responsibility, and expressed in his song, "longneck bottle, let go of my hand." [laughter] you can see the dependence agenda in the tarp program, enacted by the toxic assets on the books of banks, not one of which has been bought, wall to car companies have been bought. you can see the dependency agenda in a disproportionate share of the stimulus funds that have gone to state and local government to maintain the employment of unionized public employees, whose wages already are 34% higher and whose benefits are already 70% higher than those of people in the private sector. you can see the dependency agenda in the very reverence for targeted tax cuts, that is

tax cuts that depend upon you you to do, to buy a hybrid car, to build a wind farm, whatever, as long as you use the money the way they want you to do it. this is tax policy itself that will become increasingly a way of increasing dependency on the central government. to make people dependent on a government they are not paying for. you have all seen the graph with two intersecting lines that should terrify everyone in this room. one line shows the declining it participation in the income tax system. the top 1% of american ernie's paid 40% of the income taxes. the bottom 50% of american earners pay 3% of the income taxes. when this administration gets in place all of its tax preferences, 60% of the american people will pay either no income

taxesñr or less than 5% of their income. that is the majority that has zero incentive any longer to restrain the growth of a government they are not paying for. that is a classic case of moral hazard and it is an addiction and dependency on the government. they are encouraging and increasing dependency on government to determine the distribution of income in the united states. how else to explain why they are so desperate to continue death as a taxable event? in my team's heyday, the philadelphia phillies won the pennant and the world series. tug mcgraw was asked by journalists, what will you do with your winnings? he said i am going to spend 80%

on wine and women, and i will probably waste the rest. [laughter] if you work hard in america and save your money and reach age 65, it is a free country. if you save it and try to give it to your children, the government will come in and take a bite out of it. what is wrong with that picture? another way that dependency is encouraged is by the encouragement of india as a driver of social policy. we have been remarkably free of that in our country. that is why we are the only industrial nation that has never had a large, successful redistribution of socialist party. envy is gaining in our country, which is a little bit odd. did you ever think that envy is the only one of the seven deadly

sins that does not give the center even momentary pleasure? [laughter] i know what you are doing. you are going down the list. it is essential to a dependency agenda that you expand the share of the gdp taken in by government. a four percentage point increase has been accomplished by the obama administration in the first year, and more is coming in the name of a by u.s. attacks. that is a french word for huge government. larry summers says conservator'' do not like a value added tax and liberals do not like it because they think it is regressive. we will get about a tax when

conservatives realize it is aggressive and liberals realize it is a money machine. in any case, we will have to be alert. the way to resist the dependency agenda in taxation is to subscribe to what economists call the monday-tuesday world. most americans should come home from work on monday evening and say that is it, i am done working for the government this week. the monday-tuesday rule, people can understand. they can also understand the increasing try to make more and more sectors more and more dependent on the government. can someone explain to me why at a time of record for earnings we still have a farm program? a century ago, about 40% of the american work force was in agriculture. by 1970, it was 4%.

today is under 2%. we are still feeding ourselves too well and exporting one-third of what we grow. when abraham lincoln made his one catastrophic blunder, creating the agriculture department's, there was one bureaucrat for every 227,000 farmers. today there is one for every 19 farms. the story is told that a department bureaucrat was seen leaving in the halls of the building on independence avenue. a fellow bureaucrats came up and said what is wrong? he said, my former died. -- my farmer died. we've seen more and more local

undertakings becoming dependent on the federal government. conservative administrations are culpable in this. under the last republican president, we passed a bill that further intruded the government in to run our schools. oblivious of the fact that the american family is the smallest school. the american family is the primary transmitter of values, and schools serve families, not the other way around. [applause] the general problem is not what rahm emanuel said, a crisis is a terrible thing to waste. the real problem is what they think, a crisis is a lovely thing to create. the crisis being created before our eyes is the crisis of the exploding deficit, which they hope will put us in a position to have to have a stampede

toward an enlargement of the government's, perhaps justified by this or that commission. that is the object. çófinally, the greatest stampede of all they have in mind was the stampede that would be brought about by stimulating a synthetic crisis with regard to the climate, which would be driven by our ultimate dependency on supposedly unchallengeable clarity of scientists that would justify ever more serious government supervision of the most minute aspects of our lives. i want a show of hands. how many of the honestly know that in 2014, we began outlaw and the incandescent light bulb? before you, that is why you are here.

it was understood 100 it the years ago when it dittoed milk decided he could see over the horizon in the soft despotism could become -- the soft despotism would become more extensive and milder and would degrade men without tormenting them. it is absolute detail, regular, are seen, and mild. it would resemble paternal power if it had for exotic to repairmen for manhood, but on the contrary, it seeks only to keep them fixed irrevocably in childhood. it willingly works for their happiness, but it wants to be

the unique agent an arbiter of that happiness. it provides for their security, secures their needs, facilitates their pleasures, director industry, regulates their estates, divides their inheritance is. can it not take away from them entirely the trouble of thinking and the pain of living? he went on, "is that every day it renders the employment of free will less useful and more rare. confines the action of the will in a smaller space and little by little, it still is a very use of free will from its citizens. it reduces each nation to be nothing more than a herd of timid and industrious animals, of which the government is the shepherd. ladies and gentlemen, the stakes could not be higher. that is why when we are told that it is tried -- time to

transcend partisanship, it is actually time to say that partisanship is a good thing. [applause] we have to parties for a reason. we have different sensibilities, liberal and conservative. let's argue, and may the best one win. we are belabored with the idea that the american gridlock is a terrible problem. ladies and gentlemen, is an american achievement. [applause] when the founding fathers went to philadelphia in the summer of 1787, they did not go to create any efficient government. the idea would have horrified them. they wanted us say government. they created a government full of blocking mechanisms.

overrides, judicial review, and yet i can think of nothing that the american people have wanted intensely and attractively that they did not eventually get. we have more to fear from swift and from torpid government. [applause] we have a great case to make, because it was made by the giants on whose shoulders we stand. it was made by the founders. our job is to persuade the vast american middle, which is not angry. it is frightened and confused and puzzled, but americans are not angry, and they do not respond well to angry people. they respond well to recourse to american principles. the reason martin luther king accomplished all that he did was not just that he said that racial segregation was wrong.

he said it was incompatible with american tenets. what we have to now do is have similar fate in the american people, and why not. winston churchill loved our country as much as he left his american mother. he once said, the american people invariably do the right thing after they have exhausted all the alternatives. i think the american people still understand that a benevolent government is not always been a factor. they understand that capitalism does not just make us better off, it makes us better. they understand that when jack kennedy said "ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country," with thing you can do is reserve a spacious portion of your life for which your country is not responsible. [applause]

i think the american people still understand what milton friedman said when he said take any three letters from the alphabet, put them in any order you want, you will have an acronym designating a federal agency we could do without. i think the american people understand what robert frost meant when he said "i do not want to live in a homogenized society. i want the cream to rise." ronald reagan said ago i do not want to go back to the past, i want to go back to the past way of facing a future." ladies and gentlemen, in this room packed full of potential, our government rests on the fact that opinion is shiftable sen. in this room are what we call a

shovel ready group. so go out and shift some sand. thank you very much. [applause] [applause] >> thank you, mr. will. thank you for your insights and for allowing us to know that you, too, are a country music

fan. we appreciate that. i think there is another great countries on that weekend -- we conservatives should dish out to our liberal friends as they are trying to increase our taxes and increase federal spending. it is a great soon -- a great song by james dean hicks. ago when you are in a whole, stop digging." we have a lot of back feeling we are going to have to do in 2010. next on our program is the presentation of the john m. ash work toward. i directed to the screens on the side. -- john m. ashbrook award. >> a courageous man of

principle, and one of the most articulate anticommunist in congress, ashbrook spent his years in washington opposing the expansion of new deal and great society programs. he contributed to the national conservative movement. in 1971, he publicly broke with the nixon administration, criticizing the presentation of liberal policies in the verbal trappings of conservatism. he announced his intention to oppose nixon's renomination in a number of republican primaries. he denounced the nixon administration for squandering an opportunity to build a conservative coalition to govern the country. although nixon went on to win reelection, his conservative challenge paved the way for ronald reagan's challenge to gerald ford in 1976. reagan's successful nomination

and election in 1980 was the beneficiary of an new conservative majority that ashbrook helped create. he announced he would seek the republican nomination to oppose the incumbent democratic senator. sadly, while campaigning, he collapsed and died a month later. the center for public affairs was established and named in honor of the late congressman. president ronald reagan personally dedicated the center in 1993 -- 1983. today it has taken the lead in providing civic education programs that emphasize the study of america's founding principles and limit constitutional government. it goes events and lectures, and urging citizens to develop a deeper understanding of the principles on which our nation was founded. offers educational programs for students, teachers, and

citizens. a select group of undergraduates participate in the ashbrook scholar program. ñrhistory and social studies teachers from all 50 states steady in the master of american history and government program, the only program of its kind in the nation. this graduate program was created to address the lack of proper history and civics education in our schools. focuses on the use of original historical documents in the classroom. the ash for center is poised to continue to grow in ways that will shape the way history and civics are taught nationwide, renewing america's purpose and promise. [applause] >> ladies and gentlemen, to present the john m. ashbrook,

please welcome wayne lapierre. >> it is rare to be blessed with you friendship of a living legend, but i have had that pleasure. i have known roy innis for 30 years, and i can tell you he is the real deal. his story should be taught in every school and admired by every patriot. he marched and worked with dr. martin luther king to change our nation for the better. all many have tried to claim the mantle of dr. king, only a few have follow the dream of a truly colorblind america. roy e. is among the few who never used change as a cheap slogan of -- he has served as chairman of the congress of

racial equality and has led that organization closer to the by use of limited government and individual liberty that truly ensures equal opportunity for all. it ranks as the most diverse civil-rights organization in america. he is a strong voice for the bill of rights in the second amendment. he has faced some of the harshest criticism i have ever seen from radicals in the media elite. despite all the name-calling and backstabbing, roy has never lost his sense of humor. he has never wavered, and he has never given back 1 inch of freedom's ground. and tell them as a man of grace and power. you are just as likely to find him taking in an opera at the met as throwing jabs in a boxing ring. he is truly a national treasure. roy, i cannot put into words what our friendship has meant to me over the years, or all that

you have meant to our nation. we can celebrate you tonight. please join me in honoring a tireless champion of freedom, a patriot in every sense of the word, and an honest to goodness american legend, mr. roy innis. [applause] >> let me first thank the american conservative union and the john m ashbrook center for

public affairs for this award. i am deeply grateful and deeply humbled. i am particularly humbled by the quality of men who have won this award before me. linney use this moment to ask a favor of view. do let me use this moment. something happened to our country in the last few months. last november, this country was given away to some of the most dangerous people to ever run for the president of the united states. we stand idly by with others of like mind. let me say to you, let us not let that happen again. we have been given a reprieve by

the continuous development of what is called in the media, peapd the organization. the american conservative union is the big brother of the tea party. we have an obligation as the big brother to guide little brothers. it is said that they have no leaders. that is dangerous. sheep without a shepherd are in trouble. they are already gearing up a campaign to destroy them. we can preserve them, because america needs them.

[applause] we do not need to dominate them. we do not need to order them, but we can give them our experience. we have been at this for a long time. we have developed some skills. we are able to influence the republican party and push it in a certain direction. let us teach those skills to our young brothers in the tea party movements. [applause] ñiin particular, help them to understand the history of third- party experiences in america. the republican party in 18 vicky

six that did not win the election -- in 1856 that did not win the election. let us teach them about the disasters that took place in the clinton-bush campaign in our time. that the make a decision and understand the importance of us winning together as a team. now that we are going to convert them on all of the principles of conservatism. some of them are conservative, some are not. but they are people who would rebel against the growing negativity in our country. we can guide and protect them, and together we can change the disaster that nearly happen to us last year. [applause] thank you.

[applause] >> the award is presented annually at this conference jointly by cpac and by the ashbrook center. i will read the wording of this award, and i must say that in the years we have given it, i cannot think of anyone who more embodies the meaning of these words than our friend roy innis. [applause] a]shbrook award is intended to recognize people who exemplify the ideals so splendidly upheld by the late bym. ashbrook and so

well symbolized by his career. these include integrity of thought and conduct, the knowledge of what is right and the determination to do right. they include a firm dedication to principles, the conviction that politics must be based upon sound doctrines and noble objectives, and not merely on winning elections. they include a barack like conservatism, based on a profound understanding of the nature of human beings in civil society and all their perils and possibilities. they include a determination to fight, alone if need be, for worthy goals. is our hope that the ashbrook award will encourage others to follow the example of john ashbrook and honor their achievements when they do so.

there is no living american who i admire more than royal innis. [applause] >> thank you so much for your great work and for the inspiration that he bring to each and every one of us. tomorrow we have some dynamite programs that will continue in the marriott maryland ballroom. we have a body work in front of

us for 2010. we are adjourned for the night, but you are not returned from the fund. we need to make certain we are focused on our conservative message in 2010. thank you for joining us this evening. [applause] [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2010]

♪

♪

ñr ♪ >> live coverage from the capc winner. the conference considered -- continues tomorrow with speeches by a eric cantor and mike pence. later, attorney general john have brought -- john ashcroft. up next, cpac speeches from bliss cheney and her -- detainee. later, vice-president joe biden on a nuclear weapons treaty.

♪ >> thank you. thank you so much. it is such an honor to be here. dave keene has done so much for this country and for our movement, so thank you. and thank you to all of you. what a fabulous time to be here. it has always been a good time to be a conservative in my family. there have been some critics, you might have noticed. i had a good lesson in the 2004 campaign in how to deal with criticism and critics from my daughter. kate was then 10 years old, and

she had a friend spend the night. the next morning, we were in the kitchen. i was making breakfast, and kate and her friend were on the floor of the kitchen working on an art project. the tv was turned on, and pretty soon, howard dean, who was running for president, showed up on the tv screen. it did not take long before howard dean said some pretty nasty things about my dad. i thought to myself, should i turn it off? what should i do here? i decided know, i would just act cool and hope the girls are not listening. kate's friend immediately paid attention and said kate, that guy is really saying nasty things about your grandpa. my sweet little girl looked up from her art project, looked at the tv, saw that it was howard dean, and said you know what, don't worry about it, that guy

is psycho. [laughter] you all know that criticism of conservatism and predictions of over the month reached a new crescendo after the last election. all across the mainstream media, you could see the so-called experts giving their analysis, saying conservatism was dead, and barack obama's plans to radically retains the nation or a done deal. i think a few weeks ago, the people of massachusetts cholos experts what they could do with their analysis. -- told of those experts what they could do with their analysis. the white house was spooked by that election. the day after the results came in, you saw the president's men all over the airwaves.

they were saying we are populist. we are returning to our populist roots. now you have to admire that ambition, because everybody in this room remembers that president obama is the president who said small-town americans are better. that is why they cling to guns and to god. that is -- now suddenly the white house tells us he is a man of the people. good luck with that one. in the year that president obama has been in office, we have learned a lot. we have learned he is not going to govern from the center. we have learned he does not believe in american exception listen, and he will travel the world apologizing for this great nation. he will raise everybody's taxes. he is going to try to expand the size of the federal government

until it permeates every aspect of our lives and every corner of our land. he will try to turn our healthcare system over to the federal government. we have learned that he wants to give terrorist constitutional rights, including the right to remain silent. he wants to remove dangerous terrorists from guantanamo on to the homeland, while he investigates and possibly prosecutes the cia officers to interrogate them. that is not change we can believe in. it is not change the american people voted for, and it is time for all of us to stand up and take this country back. [applause] nowhere has this president's policies cause greater concern than the area of national security. a little over a year ago, he said he was going to close the

facility at guantanamo bay where we detain hard-core al qaeda terrace. he had no plans for what to do with the terrorist, and no national security reason for closing the facility. though it is not a surprise that he has failed to meet his objectives, what he has done over the last year, week by week, continuously, is released and transfer pardoned terrorists out of guantanamo bay. if you pay attention, you'll see that the white house likes to make these announcements late at night on newsday's where there are other things going on, hoping we will not notice. the problem is that the terrorists currently at guantanamo are such bad guys that most of their home countries do not want them back. president obama, therefore, in order to keep his campaign promise, has to transfer them into america. as we meet here today, the obama administration is trying to

appropriate over $200 million to buy the facility in illinois to xdhold the terrorists there. this is on top of the money the u.s. taxpayer has already spent on guantanamo bay. this is not rocket science. my 9-year-old daughter, grace, who is a genius, if i say so myself, asked me about this recently. she said mom, is president obama really trying to bring in terrorists into the united states? [applause] and i told her yes, sadly, that is exactly what he is doing. without missing a beat, she said, man, use your brain, do, that is totally stupid.

it is not only stupid, it is dangerous also. if president obama and attorney general holder do not get it, it is time for congress to act. we need all of you here today to help us in this effort. please go to my new website, keepamericasafe.com. we have a new petition of that tells president obama that terrorists belong at guantanamo, not an america's heartland. ñi[applause] while we are sending messages to president obama today, here is one more. stop apologizing for this great nation and start defending us. çó[applause]

keeping these terrorists and detained is important and necessary, but not enough for us to win thisçó war. we also have to be ableñi to get good intelligence. there is no question but that in the time president obama has been in office, he has diminished our capacity to do so. last april, he released the details of our enhanced ñiinterrogation program, a progm we note save lives and prevent attacks. he stopped the program and said it not worry, i will replace it with something else. i will have my national security council set up a high value interrogation program. at about that same time last august, attorney general holder said he will start investigating and prosecuting the cia officersxd. lpsince then, guess how many al qaeda terrorists have been investigated? none. during that same time, this

administration has been working day in and day out investigating, questioning, and possibly prosecuting many cia officials. one cannot help but think that they do not understand who the enemy is. that's help them out. attorney general holder and president obama, the cia officials who kept us say that after 9/11 are patriots. -- who kept us safe. ñiñithey deserve our thanks andr praise, and did not deserve to be the target of a politically motivated investigation by your justice department. the next time you hear president obama say he is using every tool

at his disposal to fight terrorist, remember this. he revealed our enhance interrogation program to the terrorists, and then he stopped paying attention. he failed to follow up for nearly a year. he could not be bothered to make sureb. that his national secury council had actually established a new interrogation program. it turns out, they had not. if president obama wants to keep this nation safe, he has to make it a priority. our counter-terrorism systems will erode without constant, daily presidential oversight and vigilance. fighting terrorism cannotñi be president obama's part-time job. [applause] there is an equally troubling story of incompetence, this judgment, and presidential neglect leading up to the christmas day attack itself. remember, the christmas day

bomber was trained and armed in yemen. it is worth reviewing the history for vice president biden's benefit. during the presidential transition, the bush counter- terrorism team reif to the obama team about the threat from yemen and what we were doing to address the threat. in june 2009, america was attacked by a terrorist who had just returned from yemen who was underñi investigation by the fb, who walked into a recruiting station in barack and killed an american soldier. in september, john brennan traveled to saudi arabia where he was greeted by the head of saudi intelligence. he had just been the target of an assassination attempt were the bombers used precisely the same kind of bomb that the

christmas day bomber use. there haveñr been reports that intelligence sources believe the bomb may have been made by the same maker in yemen. in 2009 in november we had the attack at fort hood river 13 americans were killed by a terrorist with ties to the same cleric in yemen who trained to the christmas day bomber. despite all that, on december 20, 2009, president obama released 6 human detainees from guantanamo back to yemen. and of course we had the christmas day attack on december 25. that is just what is publicly known. there is no doubt that the daily intelligence briefings contain far more and permission about the threats from yemen. after all this history, on january 7, counter-terrorism adviser brent and secretary napolitano gave a briefing at the white house. they said they were surprised that al qaeda in yemen is

operational. secretary napolitano went on to say she was surprised that al qaeda would launch individual against us. somebody needs to get her a newspaper subscription. there is no polite way to put this, but that kind of incompetence gets people killed. [applause] yet no one has been held accountable. during the 2008 campaign, president obama admitted he did notñr have a lot of experience, but he told us what he did have was wisdom and judgment. the kind of wisdom he said we would need in a nation facing tough crises. the record is not clear. a wise man would not give the mastermind of 9/11 a platform in

civilian court on american soil from which to preach jihad. [applause] a wise man would not usher of al qaeda trained terrorist onto american soil. a wise man would not fret about whether a terrorist had been read his miranda rights. a wise man would hire better people. [applause] this president's policies are of very radical nature of the changes he wants to impose on each and everyone of us in this room. it is critically important that we stand up and speak out, that we make our voices heard. they will try to prevent it. we have seen how much the white house dislikes being criticized

and attacked. we have seen what they have tried to do to fox news, to the chamber of commerce, to doctors, to anyone who disagrees with them. they are going to fight back against us. they will try to attack us, and they will play dirty. they will try to silence us. but this is america. far too many brave, young men and women have paid too high a price for our right to speak. [applause] so join with me right here, right now. let's send an unmistakable message to 1600 pennsylvania ave. president obama, you will never silence us. [applause]

there is one man in particular we all know who certainly has taught me what it means to have the courage of your convictions. you know who i am talking about. for my whole life, he has taught me to stand up for what i believe in and to fight for what is right. often before big speeches like this one, i asked his opinion and seek his advice. today, instead, i brought him with me. ♪

[applause] [cheers and applause] >> thank you.

thank you all very much. thank you. knock it off. [laughter] a welcome like that is almost enough to make me want to run for office again. [applause] but i have not going to do it.

i believe very deeply in something davis said earlier. there comes a time when those of us of our generation need to move on and make certain that the younger generation has an opportunity to step up and take on the responsibilities that are so important to the nation. ñii am enormously proud of my daughter. [applause] she said i could come with her, but i had to be armed cand cand. in all sincerity, one of the highlights of my years in public office has been the opportunity to come before cpac. dave has been kind enough to invite me time after time.

this organization is so important in terms of keeping alive the basic fundamental commitment to those principles that are essential in our 200 year history as a nation. as i look to the future, i think the developments we have seen over the last several months are enormously encouraging. çói think when we can achieve te kind of results we have achieved in places like virginia and new jersey and massachusetts -- [applause] the sky is the limit here. 2010 is going to be a phenomenal year for the conservative cause. i think barack obama is a one- term president.

[applause] so again, let me thank you for all the time and energy and effort you have committed to our common cause. you have been fantastic, and there are some great years ahead of us. it is very important that we succeed, and i will do everything i can. most especially, i want to encourage the younger generation. it is a remarkable time to be an american and a remarkable time to be a conservative, and good luck. thank you all very much. [applause] .

. fromx!/ñi massachusetts, scott brown. [applause] [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. heard from the americans. >> i]çwhen they felt the heat,y saw the light. and, bless every american that said no. concourse the president accuses us of being the party -- of course, the president accuses us of being the party of no. he makes that the definition of bad things. it is right to say no to things. [applause] our party can never be a rubber stamp for check spending. before we move away from this no

epithet, let us ask the obama folks why they say no to a balanced budget, malpractice reform, missile defense, prosecuting ksm, tax cuts that create jobs,--[applause] >> we did not have a corner on saying no. 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. . .

their team has filled the american people. that is what the majority will soon be out the door. isn't it fit in? -- isn't it fitting? so many of those that have contempt for the private sector will soon find themselves back in it. [applause] >> the people of america are looking to conservatives for leadership. we cannot fill them. conservatism has had from its inception of vigorously positive intellectually rigorous agendas and thinking. that agenda should have three

pillars -- strengthen the economy, the family, and the security. will strengthen the economy by simplifying and lowering taxes. replace outmoded regulation with broader regulation. open markets to american goods. strengthen our currency. instead of leading the world and how much we borrow, it is time we lead the world and how much we build and create and invest. 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 da)hm l polit)c,@@agk@ da&" >> i was shopping at christmastime. as i waited in the checkout line, i happen to look around the store at this big signs with the smile on them and of low prices. çi thought to myself about the impact of sam walton. he apparently was all about good value to the consumer and making sure they could buy anything to would want and the store. rock-bottom prices, tens'o of

thousands of items. it is interesting the impact the founders have on their enterprises. in many ways, microsoft is a reflection of its founder, bill gates. 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] >> to our coverage continues tomorrow morning. we will hear from eric kantor and others. live coverage begins at 8:30 on c-span2. later in the day, president obama will hold a town called meeting -- town hall meeting in las vegas.

>> vice president biden call for ratification of the nuclear test ban treaty and the senate. henry waxman discusses democratic legislative priorities. >> your shop for everything c- span is set c-span.org/store. you will find documentaries on the supreme court, the capital and the white house. also, a collection of books, coffee mugs and others. look for these and other gift- giving ideas that c-span.org /store. joe biden gave remarks on the obama administration's nuclear security agenda. defense secretary robert gates introduced the vice-president at the national defense university. it is 25 minutes.

the vice chairman of the joint chiefs of staff and former commander of strategic command, general james cartwright. [applause] to the community, thank you for all you do in service to our country. and to the students in particular, i wish you the best as you prepare to take on important leadership positions. you are really here to listen to what the vice president has to

say so i will be brief. the topping -- the topic of the address is the role of nuclear weapons and one that is critical to america's national security and strength. president obama has helped focus our attention on reducing nuclear dangers and taking the ultimate steps of eliminating nuclear weapons. at the same time, as he and the vice president have said, as long as nuclear weapons are required to deter aggression and defend our country and allies, we will maintain a safe and secure an effective nuclear arsenal. before becoming vice president, joe biden served for 36 years in the senate representing delaware. he served as chairman of the judiciary and foreign relations committees. he has established a reputation on being one of the foremost experts on foreign affairs. he has provided exemplary

leadership on ventures -- on the issues of proliferation, the terrorists and the state of our nuclear enterprise. we are honored that he has come to share his thoughts on such an important topic. it is my personal honor and pleasure to introduce the vice president of the united states, joseph biden. >> thank you. it is an honor to be here. >they could probably deliver this speech better than i will.

the fact of the matter is that at its founding, former secretary of for gave us the essence of the national defence. he said not to promote war but to promote peace by intelligent and adequate preparation to repel aggression. that is what this is all about. that is what this speech is about. for more than one century, you and your predecessors have heeded that call. there are of your contributions greater that any citizen could make them to expire -- than to aspire to meet the goals of this university. many statements -- many statesmen have walked on this campus. they pronounced statesman better than i have. [laughter] çincluding our own jim jones.

you taught him well. a scholar and diplomat lector -- lectured here in the late 1940's. he was just back from moscow and as all of the stuff far from here. he developed the doctrine of containment and added a generation of cold war foreign policy. some of the issues that arose during that time seem like very distant memories. i see some old colleagues when i got there is a 29 year-old and some of them seem very distant. the topic came to discuss is the challenges posed by nuclear weapons continuing to demand our urgent attention just as itç dd during the cold war. the president laid out his vision of protecting our country from nuclear threat.

he made clear that we will take concrete steps toward award -- toward a world without nuclear weapons while maintaining a safe and secure arsenal as long as we still needed. we will work to strengthen our non-proliferation treaty and do everything in our power to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons to terrorists and to state that the not already possess them. it is very easy to recognize the threat posed by nuclear terrorism but we must not underestimate how proliferation to a state could be destabilizing to entire region is critical to us and to our security and may prompt neighbors in that region to feel that they have to garner a nuclear weapons themselves. our agenda is based on a clear assessment of our national interests. we have long relied on nuclear

weapons to deter adversaries. we are now developing non nuclear waste to achieve these directors. we presented a plan of protecting our forces well into the future. conventional warheads with worldwide reach and others that are developing and being developed will enable us to reduce the role of nuclear weapons as other nuclear powers begin to draw down even further just as we wish to do. with these modern capabilities and the deep nuclear reductions, we will remain undeniably strongç to defend against all

enemies.% as we have said many times, the spread of nuclear weapons is the greatest threat facing the country and i would argue, facing humanity. that is why we are working to stop their proliferation and to eliminate them. çuntil that day comes, we havo do everything in our power to maintain our arsenal and make sure it is reliable. at the vanguard of this effort alongside our military are our nuclear weapons laboratories. a true national treasures that deserve our full support. their valuable contributions are from developing the world's fastest supercomputers to cleaner fuels. their best known for their work to secure our country. we have asked our labs to meet

our most urgent strategic needs in time and again, they have delivered. çin 1939, as fascism began its march, albert einstein warned president einstein -- president roosevelt that there will be a weapon the likes of which the world has never seen. in the southwest desert, we won that race and literally changed the course of history. it became our supreme -- our most profound facility in developing non weapon nuclear advancements. during the arms race that followed the korean war, they designed and developed warheads to keep our nuclear capabilities second to none. these examples and many others

illustrate that everybody in this room knows that the past century's defining conflict for decided not just on the battlefield but in the classrooms and laboratories. as an aviation pioneer once argued, the first world war was decided by brauawn, the second logistics', the third he predicted would be won by brands. he got it almost right. great minds helped win the cold war and prevent a third world war altogether. during the cold war, we tested our capabilities under water and underground so we couldç evalue

more advanced concepts. amaged our health and disrupted the environment and set backç our nonproliferation agenda. 18 years ago, george h. w. bush signed a nuclear testing moratorium enacted by congress which is in place to this very day. under that moratorium, our laboratories have maintained our regionals to what is known as the stockpile stewardship program. we are able to do that without underground testing using techniques that are as successful as they are cutting edge. today, the directors of the nuclear laboratories tell me and the president they have a deeper understanding of our stockpile stewardship than they ever had

when testing was commonplace. let me repeat that. our labs know more about our arsenal today than when they were able to explode weapons at our facilities on a regular basis. with our support, supporthe labs can reduce the impact on the arsenal. unfortunately, our experts were underfunded. 2000 employees lost their jobs. between 2006 and 2008, including, highly skilled scientists and engineers. we used to handle uranium and plutonium when the great powers were winston churchill, harry truman and when -- and joseph stalin.

the size of age and decay are becoming more apparent every day. because we recognize these dangers, we met with the heads of all three laboratories. they described the impact these budgetary pressures were having on their ability to manage our personal without testing. they say that the situation is literally a threat to national security. president obama and i agree. that is what we announced a new budget that reverses the last decade of dangerous decline. itç devotes $7 billion to maintain our nuclear stockpile and modernizing our nuclear construction. to put that into perspective, that is $624 million more than the approved last year and an increase of $5 billion over the next -- five years. even in these tight fiscal

times, we will commit the resources necessary to maintain our security interests. this investment is not only consistent with a nonproliferation agenda but the central to pursue and non- proliferation agenda. efforts to allow us to pursue deeper nuclear reductions without in any way compromising our security. as our conventional capabilities improved, we are going to continue to reduce our reliability on nuclear weapons. we will be able to reduce our capability. responsible disarmament requires versa tile specialists who are able to manage the crisis. the skilled -- versatile specialists who are able to manage the crisis. a chemist to understand how

plutonium can track nuclear -- missing nuclear materials and how to track those who are taking them. our goal is a world without nuclear weapons. it has been endorsed -- endorsed by leading voices in both parties. those include two former secretary of state'. the democratic chairmthese statr eliminating nuclear weapons and they called it a bold initiative for america's moral heritage. during the 2008 presidential campaign, both president obama and john mccain supported this same objective. we are going to continue to build support for this

bipartisan consensus, like the one around the containment of soviet expansion that george kennedy inspired. toward that end, we worked tirelessly to move the president's agenda. he shared a historic meeting with the u.n. security council which anonymously impress the key elements -- unanimously embraced the key elements of his plan. we are completing an agreement that will reduce levels to the -- weapon to the lowest levels in decades. these verification measures are going to provide confidence that the terms of that agreement are going to be met. these reductions will be conducted transparently and they will be predictable. a new treaty will promote

nuclear stability and bolstered the global effort to prevent proliferation by showing that the world's leading nuclear powers are committed to reducing their arsenal. it will provide momentum on global consensus that nations that violate the obligations should be held accountable. this strategy is already yielding results. we have tightened sanctions on north korea's activities to the most strict resolution to date. the international security is enforcing the sanctions as we speak. we are now working with our international partners to ensure that iran faces real consequences for failing to meet their obligations. in the meantime, we are completing a government-wide review on nuclear posture. our budgets proposals reflect some of the key priorities

including increased funding for a new complex, a kid that meant to sustain heavy bombers and land and sea-based missile capabilities under a new agreement. this review has been a full interagency partnership. another way of saying that, everybody is on the same page. everybody is on the same page. we believe we have developed a broad consensus of the importance of the president's agenda and the steps that need to be taken to achieve that agenda. the results will be presented to congress soon. in april, the president is the one to host a national security summit to advance his goals of securing all vulnerable nuclear material within four years. there is a lot of it out there.

it is a very high priority. we cannot wait for an act of nuclear terrorism before coming together to share the best practices and race security standards. we will seek firm commitments from our partners to do just that. in may, we will participate in the non-proliferation treaty review conference. we are rallying support for stronger measures for inspection and to punish cheaters. we have a basic bargain. that was that nuclear power will pursue disarmament and non- nuclear states will not acquire such weapons while gaining access to civilian technology. that is the cornerstone and has been of the non-proliferation regime. before the treaty was negotiated, and that is back in the early 1960's, president

kennedy predicted that the world would end up with up to 20 nuclear powers by the mid 1970 cost. because of non-proliferation and the consensus, that did not çhappen. 40 years later, that consensus frame. it is time for us to reinforce this and to strengthen the treaty for the future. well we do that, we are going to negotiate a ban on the production of missile material that can be used in nuclear weapons. we know that completing that treaty will not be easy to do nor will it come quickly. the conference on disarmament must resume work on this treaty as soon as possible. the last piece of the agenda was

the ratification of the comprehensive test ban treaty. 10 years ago, we lead this effort to negotiate this treaty so that people see why we did it. it was designed in order to keep emerging nuclear states from protecting their arsenal p pursuing ever more advanced weapons. as well as those who were not nuclear states. we are confident and we have undertaken refused to make sure that our instincts are absolutely right. we are confident that all reasonable concerns raised about the treaty back then, concerned about verification and the reliability of our own personal have now been addressed. the test ban treaty is as important as ever. as president obama said, we cannot succeed in this endeavor

long. the endeavor meaning the reduction of nuclear weapons. he went on to say that we can lead it and we can start it. that is what we are doing. some of my friends in both parties have many questions about various aspects of what i have laid out. some of my own party may have trouble reconciling the investment of $7 million in our nuclear complex. some of the other party may worry we are relinquishing capabilities that have kept our country safe. both of these groups, we respectfully disagree. as both the only nation to have ever used the nuclear weapon and as a strong proponent of non- proliferation, the u.s. has long embodied a start but inevitable embodied a start but inevitable contradiction.