as a nation. >> give me something on the state of the union coming up this week. how will the president play the situation he's got? >> i think you will hear a few big ideas and your reach out to republicans in the chamber. some of whom will be sitting next to democrats. the seating arrangements will make it harder for someone to stand up and say "you lie." i think you will hear the president make a speech that is much more republican sounding, he is rolling out a set of deregulation ideas, which is certainly more a republican idea, as a way of reaching out and showing the public key is centrist. the way he would do that is very different than the way republicans would do it, so we will have to see what gets done. >> i think he makes the case for tax reform. i don't think it gets done this year, but i think the president

takes ownership and makes the argument both on the corporate and individual side, the idea that the tax code is too complicated, it is cumbersome and rates are too high. i think the president does make the appeal in the case for that. >> a big week ahead in washington d.c. with the state of the union and the republican agenda back on the floor. thank you for being here. [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captioning performed by national captioning institute] >> congress returns to session this week to work on a number of items. they plan debate on a measure that would cut all discretionary non-security federal spending for fiscal year 2008 levels. a final vote is expected tuesday. see the house live on c-span. the senate returns to session on tuesday, at 10:00 eastern. they will have time for general speeches before turning to a proposal that would change set rules on the filibuster which is

used to block or delay action on legislation. the proposal aims to limit when and how the filibuster can be used. live coverage of the senate can be seen on c-span to. -- on c-span2. >> up next, minnesota rep michele bachmann. the republican congresswoman and founding member of the house tea party caucus spoke to nearly 300 members of high winds for tax relief. she was born in waterloo, iowa before moving to the minneapolis area where she has served in the state senate before being elected to congress in 2006. this was her second visit to iowa this month.

>> thank you for inviting me here tonight. i wish all of you could see your faces. as many of the know come up i was born in iowa. i was born in waterloo, iowa. i descend -- my dad called us iwegians. does anyone know what that is? my brother was right. my other brother, he is a tv weatherman here -- do any of you remember gary amble? that's my brother. thank you for that wonderful, warm welcome and thank you for your leadership. this is an absolutely outstanding organization? would you be willing to come to minnesota and start when they're also?

we need one. i come from a very different neighborhood up there. my husband, markets, is with me, my husband of 32 years. if you could stand up. [applause] behind every good norwegian girl, there is a swiss husband. there he stands. we have had 32 great years together. we have five biological kids and 23 foster kids. we are so proud of all of them. none of them are in jail. we have had a really great day coming home to iowa today. people in iowa are so nice. my dad always used to tell me that people in iowa are the best looking people in the world. i can see he is absolutely correct. when i was filling out my iowa basic skills test, remember taking that when your little? in cedar falls, iowa, i remember

taking our basic skills test and we were always so proud because we were always number one in the nation. so you are the nicest people, the best looking, the smartest people no wonder everyone wants to come to iowa. it should be no shock that a girl comes here. i know there has been a lot of speculation about why i'm coming to iowa. i don't want to keep you in suspense for one more minute because it is with pride in my heart that i'm here to announce tonight in iowa that it's really good to be home. [laughter] [applause] but i am a congresswoman from your neighbor to the north, up in minnesota. we produce a lot in minnesota. we've given you paul wellstone,

walter mondale, and al franken. we have given you a lot out of the state of minnesota. but we have also given you posted notes and spam. we think it evens out a little bit. it's a great time to be thinking about some very important issues and i know that the values i learned in my life, i learned here in the hawkeye state. i am so proud to have this as my heritage and background because here in iowa, we laid the foundations and seeds for greatness. i put a lot of time into thinking about what i wanted to say this evening when i was extended this invitation to come to you. i was thinking about my roots and my own family. my daughter and i pulled out a family history and started reading it to each other.

our youngest is 16. we were lucky enough to have a relative that wrote some of our family history. i'm ashamed to say i had not read the book yet to know what was. i had tears come to my eyes when i read about my family and what they went through to get to this country. you all have the same story that you could tell because franklin delano roosevelt said we are all a nation of immigrants. other than the native americans, who this truly was there a original country, we are all nation of immigrants. in our history, we go back to 1857 to my great, great, great grandfather. they lived in norway and there was only 2% of the land was tillable. you wonder why all of the norwegians left norway to come to the united states -- you try

to make it onto% tellable acreage. he was about 45 years of age and had five children and very few prospects at that time. the inheritance laws in norway were such that you could not accumulate wealth. interesting how government does that. they had changed the inheritance laws so a person could not sell their land to anyone other than a blood relation from the airline and you could not accumulate more land than the land you had. so norway was in a process through its government of suppressing wealth creation. very, very different from the way america was portrayed. the couple in their 40's, their parents lived to be in their '40's and '50's, so just think, they are at the end of their lives of what they knew their parents' generation to be with five kids. but they made decisions and they

heard about something that came to them. there were norwegians that had come at them and 80 norwegians had written a document called the muskego manifesto. it would take a long time to count somebody to leave their home, give up everything they had, sell everything they had, know that they would never again see the people that love, their friends, other neighbors, everyone they would leave behind, they would never see them. they literally sold all and got on a ship with a very small quarters and did not have much to begin with, but they bought their tickets for each of themselves and their five kids and got on the ship, but what induced them was this document written by 80 norwegians to come to america who wanted other norwegians to come and join them. this is what the document said -- we live under a generous government in a fertile land where freedom and equality

prevail. civil and religious affairs -- without any special permission, we can enter almost any profession and make an honest living. this week considered more wonderful than rich's. -- this week considered more wonderful than rich's. to live in a country where you could be anything you wanted to be. we had a quality, freedom, and fertile land. this was the land of promise that went out to these norwegian immigrants in the flame of imagination. they decided to roll the dice and take the chance. these were risktakers that came to the added states. the greatest wave of emigration or irish. the second greatest way for the norwegians. some of you are dutch and some of your german and some of you are italian, but all of last

descended from risk-takers. people that had the flame of imagination. they understood and saw from distance the land of promise that was the united states. they decided to shake the dice and make it happen. my forbearers sold everything and went down to the dock and when they got there, one of their kids was a very tall norwegian. it was my great, great grandfather. he was 6 foot 3 inches tall. the parents bought the tickets and bought a child's fare for him because he was 11 years old. pay and adult fare because he's a big kid. an adult fare cost $25. the family did not have it. they were already there on the boat and had sold everything, on

the ship and were ready to go. the captain said he's not coming aboard. there was absolutely nothing they could do about it. this was a true story. this is the plot of our ancestors. my great, great, grandparents you will have to go and find a relative to live with back in the village and as soon as we can, we promise you we will get the money and send it to you and we will bring you to join the family. can you imagine if you were an 11-year-old boy and your parents said that to you and off they went? he stood on the bank and the other four children got on the boat and, if you could have seen that boy's face, the record said he had his hands in his pockets and had the most pitiful, forlorn look on his face. the family was crying because

they were heartbroken. he was on the bank of the water and heartbroken, thinking he had to walk back to the village and find some distant relative to live with. the captain looked at the parent and looked at the boy and finally the captain said all right, i guess the ship won't sink. so he got to go on the ship. so the kid at got to come on the ship and it was the first of so many miracles. the ship took 13 weeks from the time they left norway until the time they hit quebec. 13 weeks. then they had to take an overland route that took many, many more weeks until they got to the mother colony in wisconsin. when they got to wisconsin, and norwegian met them and walked them. so imagine, they got off and

walked 6 miles to their home. was summertime and the had heavy woolen clothes. everything they own, they carried. when they got to this norwegians yard, everyone laid out in the art and they were so exhausted. -- laid out in the art. this is our story. these are the people who came here for just a chance to write their tickets, the chance to come and visit the land of promise. when i think of these people and the greatness of these ordinary people, they are the most extraordinary people you could ever imagine. so my relatives built a watertight boat and put wheels on that and got as far as desoto and wisconsin and they floated their wagon and the cattle had to swim across the mississippi river to get to lansing. they got to lansing, iowa and

they had heard there was free land in the dakotas. they went 300 miles on the wagons. no marked roads, just military trails. they got over to the dakotas and had the worst snow in 42 years once they got there. they made a dugout sought house. the next summer, had the worst flood in 50 years. their third year in america, they had the worst drought that had ever been seen. the fourth year, locusts came and ate everything they had. so all of a sudden, they remembered, iowa, that was the land of milk and honey. we are getting out of here and going back to iowa. they got in their wagon and went back and retraced the route, got to chickasaw county -- if anyone knows where chickasaw county is

up by luther college. i guess luther college was not there back then. that's where they went and planted their farm. seven generations of my family were there ever since. and this young boy who got on the ship when he was 15 years of age joined up with the union army and fought in the civil war. today, when i was at the capitol here, i saw the beautiful mural of all of the civil war soldiers who had gathered in front of the capital. in the family history, there is a recording i did read that he came to the capital. to see that picture today, he must have been there in that picture. just to see that painting -- it struck me when we saw that painting that this is our story. these beautiful people and the

sacrifice they brought to build up not just iowa, but every state across the union. as we look around and see this magnificent hotel and this beautiful capital city where there is one cleaning, shining, new office building after another, one great industry after another, it's important as we look at those buildings and admire those buildings that we recall it is not ourselves that built them up, it is people that one before us who sacrificed, who built up, who threw their labor literally felt the trees and clawed through the land and picked the rocks and built the barns and did what had to be done, to build up this most magnificent country the world has ever seen. i am in love with these people.

absolutely in love with these people. as much as i read your our founders, the thomas jefferson, benjamin franklin's, and george washington's of this country, i think it is important for us to remember that the george washington's and the ben franklin's, that they stood on the shoulders of the very immigrants who came here. it was the ordinary people who left them up. it was the ordinary people of this country who made this an extraordinary nation. it took a great leap of faith for these people to come here and they were absolutely marvelous because they did not come here for the promise of a federal handout. they did not come for the promise of a welfare payment. they did not come here for the promise and hope of socialized medicine.

they came here for the promise of america and they came to live in this land of limitless opportunity. they came here for the chance to write their own ticket. they came to build a better life for me and you. we are the beneficiaries of their courage and i am determined to do whatever i can to preserve the promise of america forward, not only for my kids, but for your kids and the generation that is yet unborn. that is why i am here tonight because it is my firm belief -- my firm belief that america is under greater attack now from a very different flow -- very different foe, and it is a problem of our own making. it's like a thunderclap of debt weighing upon our nation that if we don't quickly turn the ship, the icebergs is straight in front of us. we can all see the iceberg and

we, like fools are pointing the ship directly into it, but we can turn. turnus who can make that happen. do you realize it has been 21 generations that america has survived? for 21 nations, we have passed the torch of liberty from one generation successfully to the next. the question we need to ask ourselves tonight is this -- will it and with us? will we be this last generation? will we be the first generation to fail to pass the torch of liberty? it does not seem like a very positive message, does it? will we be the ones for whom this great experiment in human liberty will and on our watch? don't get me wrong, this nation will always exist as a piece of

real estate. the question is, will we remain the leader in the world? will we remain the indispensable nation in the world? will we remain as the exceptional nation of the world? the question before us that's even bigger is will we become just one more ordinary nation? just one more country between albanians and zimbabwe on the role of the united nations general assembly? i don't think so. and i don't think you think so either. will we take action now to ensure we remain the exceptional nation our parents thought this country was? a covenant nation like john winthrop wrote just as the puritans were about to land in massachusetts bay and like my grandparents and yours thought it would be. this story of my family was in

my mind when i came to talk to you tonight because i did not come to give a speech about tax reform. the have materials to give you an context about how great our financial situation is in the united states. i'm not here to revel in triumphs, like the repeal had in the house this week of obama care or the fact that we gained in three-fourths of a century, we have not seen gains like we have had in the house in this election. i did not come here tonight to give a political speech because this current crisis we are in is far bigger than democrats and republicans. it's far bigger than an argument about conservatives and liberals. this is a much bigger discussion because it is a single question that hangs over our country and it is a question that abraham lincoln raised 150 years ago,

almost to this very night, when abraham lincoln's asked if the liberties of our countries would be preserved until the latest generation? the question is this -- will america and door? -- will america and door? i don't say this dramatically -- will america endure? things like the crushing deficit, bankrupting america and the size and scope of government, weakening of our national security, those are elements of this momentous question. it is not raised unfortunately in all of congress or in washington dc or even in the pages of the mainstream media. it does not fit the narrative of the political class. but it's a question i think i hear when i'm out in the streets talking to people.

this is the question that animates people in iowa, minnesota and people across the country. people -- politicians are not talking about it, but people are talking about this question. long before we ever became a republic, indeed it the moment before the first settlers arrived, this unique idea was forged in this covenant called the mayflower compact articulated by john winthrop. it was the compelling moral commandment imposed by this covenant on ourselves as a people. it was adopted and honored by every succeeding waves of immigrants, every succeeding waves of their children, and it was the obligation of each generation to the next to bequeath to their posterity the inheritance of a greater america than they had known. i ask this question wherever i go across the country -- i will ask people to you live better

than what your parents lived? is your standard of living better? i would ask you that question tonight. is your standard of living better than that of your parents? i asked you what is your opinion about your children? do believe -- do you believe your children's standard of living will be as high as the one you enjoy right now? how many people believe that? this is the answer i get. very few people will raise their hand on this second question and almost everyone will raise their hand on the first. do you realize this is the first time in 234 years of american history that audiences answer the question that way? that is why i say there is doubt in the minds of americans that we will continue as this great, exceptional nation. in his first major address, abraham lincoln said the latest

generation that fate shall permit the world to know, we have a task of gratitude to our fathers, justice to ourselves, duty to austerity and love for mankind in general. that requires us faithfully to perform. for 21 generations in america, we have listened to lincoln's words. we have faith -- we have faithfully performed to the next generation. our ancestors, when they arrived on these shores, think of it. they spoke different languages, they had different collectors, different backgrounds and traditions. but unbelievably, they'll bound themselves back to this tradition, this covenant that was contained in the mayflower compact. this covenant that we published in the declaration of independence. how unique in all of the world that one nation that was the resting point from people groups

all across the world, did not matter the color of their skin, it did not matter their language, it did not matter their economic status, it did not matter whether they descend -- whether they descended from the ability or from a higher class or lower class. it made no difference. once you got here, we were all the same. isn't that remarkable? it is absolutely remarkable. out of that, e pluribus unim. that is the greatness and the essence of this nation. we know there was slavery that was still tolerated when the nation began. we know that was an evil and a scourge and a block and a stain upon our history. but we also know the very

founders who wrote those documents worked tirelessly until slavery was no more in the united states. i think it is high time we recognize the contribution of our forbearers who worked tirelessly -- men like john quincy adams, who would not rest until slavery was extinguished in the country. we have them to thank for that. instead of continually going back and looking at the weaknesses and the stains of america, let's look in stet -- let's look instead at a great as of america. we were a self correcting country. when you look at the united states dollar bill and you see the pyramid on the back of that dollar bill, the top of the pyramid is removed and the all seeing i've got is above the pyramid. you often wonder why wasn't the capstone put on that pyramid? it was symbolic. it is because the founders saw the history of the nation was

not yet written. that was up to us. we were still continuing and perfecting because this was a self-correcting country. so i come here tonight, again to remind us that you are that self correcting country. you are the most important part of what is about to happen in the united states. we took a great leap forward, i believe, in this election in 2010. a great correcting step against the temptation in washington d.c. for a big, overriding centralized government. we saw the passage of socialized medicine, we saw the purchase of private industries -- did you ever see -- -- did you ever think in your lifetime unc the federal government purchased the largest car companies in the united states? did you ever think you would see the united states purchased

the largest banks in america? or to see america purchased the >> it today the united states owns over 50% of all private home mortgages. your government owns them. your government completely runs the student loan industry. they took over socialized medicine. president obama recently signed an executive order so that he would now start implementing cap and trade. this is stunning what has occurred in two years' time. remember, we are americans. you are that self correcting power. we saw something remarkable happened in this last election. now it is up to you to make sure we see something remarkable

happened in the 2012 election. equality is what we came here to be about. equality was the most important thing they wanted. our generation faces that starkness of all -- starkest of all questions. the answer is not with our political figures. they want you to know that. that is what lincoln told us. it is not with our political figures. it is with each one of you here in this room. time is running out. if you look at the deficit, it has been accumulating. from the time george washington took the presidency until the day george w. bush left as president of the united states, all 43 presidents, if you take

all of the debt combined of all of those 43 presidents, all of that debt is less than the debt that was accumulated by barack obama in one year. that is the level of debt and spending we have engaged in. this is not hyperbole. this is fact behind it. in the second year of his presidency, we saw a debt level almost equal to that. in fact, it is even more. on the books is says $1.29 trillion in debt. it was $1.40 trillion in the first year of barack obama's presidency. that does not include the $200 billion we spend on fannie mae and freddie mac. my youngest daughter is 16 years old. by the time she reaches maturity, we will have seen social security running in the red for years.

last year was the first time a security -- social security began spending more money than it was taking in. we have and i know you account for the social security trust fund -- an iou for the social security trust fund. it is filled with iou's. why? because congress took all of that out and spend it. made out those iou's of demo our labor. shortly, we will have the specter of having to increase the amount that government is taking out of social security if we want to continue putting out checks at the same level.

consider at the same time, medicare is scheduled, according to the government, to go flat broke by 2017. that is six years from now. six years from now, medicare is scheduled to be flat broke. social security is already running in the red. we are running deficits in excess of $1 trillion every year. we are at 60% of debt to gdp ratio. greece was at 90% when they had riots in the street. i did not come here to the press you on a friday night. i came too late context for you so that you will know this is a serious situation that we are looking at. it is also one of our own making. it was not the kind of country that the founders initially

thought we would have. they did not see that we would be a nation that would be filled completely with an entitlement mentality. they thought this would be a nation of free enterprise, individual personal responsibility. now something has changed. abraham lincoln has spoken to us as well. when he left -- when he was leaving springfield, he said he was an accidental instrument, a temporary instrument called to serve for a limited time. he said he wanted to appeal to us to bear in mind that it is with you that the decisions lie, not with politicians, not with presidents or office seekers, but with you shall the union and the liberties of this country be preserved for the latest generation. 150 years later, i think those

words explain everything we need to know about our responsibility in this tiny window of opportunity that we have. we have the next election. if we want to kill obamacare, if we want to end socialized medicine, it must be done in the next election. it must be done in 2012. just like we repealed speaker nancy pelosi in 2010, it will be our charge to repeal president obama in 2012 and a liberal senate in 2012 and put in place a bold, strong, constitutional conservative for president who understands the time and knows what to do and has the courage and fortitude to make it happen. that is what we have to look for going forward. the united states faces virtual bankruptcy, as i said.

this week, we saw the chinese come to the united states. it was in many people's minds as we saw our president bowed to the head of china. people wonder, where the chinese coming to measure the drapes while they were in washington, d.c. i did not know if we have gone that far. we have some great questions we have to answer in the next few months. this is the first great question. is america to continue to be an exceptional nation? i know we are an exceptional nation. i think you also know we are an exceptional nation. will we be, as some advocates, an ordinary nation like every other? will we remain an indispensable nation for good, as we have been for more than a century, as a beacon for the rest of the world? or will we adjust to a managed

and inevitable decline. an ordinary america would be no america at all. how would we govern this nation? would there be an elite presuming to know what is best for everyone and telling the owners in this country what they can and cannot do and which lighted ball they can buy -- light bulb they can buy, which insurance policy they can buy? will we be a nation where individual liberties will be prized? will we succumb to an instinct of a managed utopia where direction lies in the bureaucracy of the state? what i believe is the truth of where we are in this country. i do not expect the political class to understand what i am is saying. i think iowans in this room know

what i am talking about when i talk about exceptional as some. others who hear this message will know -- exceptionalism. others who hear this message will know what i am talking about. were the words, all men are created equal, living words? ken burns said the war was waged in 10,000 different places. americans killed and other americans in the 10,000 and hundred thousand. we do not face the prospect of an armed civil war. but we face the question of whether our nation will live with the latest generation equally crate -- equally great. it is a slavery of a different

time. the media may twist what i am about to say, but it doesn't bother me at all. it is a slavery. it is a bondage to debts and a bondage to decline. that is what that slavery entails. it is the subservience of a sovereign people to a failed self selected elite. that is our fate. on the eve of the issuance of the emancipation -- emancipation proclamation, lincoln said, we cannot escape history. it will write to us down in honor or dishonor. we will nobly win or lose the last best hope. other means will succeed. this could not fail. the way which it follows, the

world will forever plod. this nation has always been preserved by men and women who rose to the challenge, by immigrants who came here and risked everything to come to you the united states and the soldiers on the battlefield. they deserve this great nation. what i spoke to you tonight was somber. i spoke to you tonight was serious. but it is also not without a great hope. my faith is in you, the ordinary i was citizen. for my money, i would take ordinary in the day of the week over the self anointed elite. i love the iowa ordinary. [applause] what we have seen in recent months has been nothing more than extraordinary, whether it is from the tea party or other

iowans for tax relief, you have someone something deep inside that we have not seen in modern times -- you have some and -- you have summoned something deep inside that we have not seen in modern times. this was not coordinated by some central elite. this was the spirit of 1776 that will up in all of our hearts and said, get up off of the couch. do something. do not let this great nation go down. now is the time to come out. you saw what happened right here in iowa. when in your iowa house seat back. ousting three supreme court justices. this was a shot heard around the world. [applause]

and do not think for a moment that a lot of justices around the country feel the hot seat in their own state because of what i what did. you rock here in the state of iowa. it is proof what you did that the spirit of 1776, this wonderful, early iowa pioneer spirit still lives in this state. why shouldn't it? the blood of these incredible people still flows in our veins, these people that we descend from, these generations that created, built, and sustain our country. as great as the task we have before us in this country, if we once again rely on ourselves before an almighty god, and if we educate ourselves and stand

for to lead, and fall on our knees and cry out to that most munificent, beneficial creator, we can in our own time reignite, rejuvenate, reclaim the greatness of the united states of america. it is in fewer hands, this first precinct in the 2012 race, it is in fewer hands, iowa, that this question will be decided. do not forget. it is not all the politicians who are going to come through here. it is not the speakers who are going to come through here who will decide whether america will go on as the exceptional, indispensable nation. it will be iowans who will make that decision. you will be the ones who decide. that is why i am is so excited. i feel like i know you because i was born here.

i was raised here. these are my values. i feel like we understand each other. i trust you with that decision. but i also charge you with that decision today. you must remember, it is your decision going forward in the next 24 months. you must answer these questions about what kind of country we can have. we cannot look to short-term interests. this is too big. we cannot fail. this is too important. even the french figured this out, after all. we have been a country for 100 years. they struck the statue of liberty and lady liberty held the torch. they put it in new york harbor. even the french figure out that we are the torch of the world like the way of exceptionalism

and greatness. we can do it again. [applause] we are that last, best hope on earth. if there is not america, to where do freedom loving people we para? to freedom loving people repair? to where do we go? thank you for having me tonight. thank you, everyone. thank you. [applause] i did not give your name.

>> geri. >> hello, geri. >> thank you for coming. >> i am so glad you were here tonight. >> i saw a republican poll. you were listed with john mccain. [unintelligible] >> isn't that funny? >> people wanted to redo it. i voted for other. >> thank you. what is your name? >> dan. >> hello, paul.

>> i am so glad you are here. >> thank you. it is nice to be back in iowa. >> i am jason. >> good to me you, jason. in 1965, they had a tornado. good to meet you. >> can i get a picture? >> you got the chart? >> can i get a picture with you? >> where is the camera?

thank you. thank you. it was so nice of you to come out. >> no tornadoes. >> hi, georgia. nice to see you. hello, john. >> i am living in iowa now. [unintelligible] >> what is your name? you are jim? good to see you. tell me where you live. >> in urbandale. >> in urbandale?

good to see you. you are in the morning? -- you are in des moines. good to see you. laura?no know >> no. i go to law school. >> good to meet you. good for you. oh, boy. you are busy. >> we have got to get you back up on stage. >> i think katie wants her over

here. >> can you take a picture? >> thank you. >> thank you. i was just walking out of the state capitol when i saw him. isn't he great? he is the nicest guy.

i am not in my district. i wear earmuffs in minneapolis- st. paul. where is the waterloo courier? that is my hometown paper. my brother used to deliver that paper. the reason why i wanted to come down here is to set the table and ask some big questions about 2012. inevitably, we will be looking at who the nominee will be for 2012. there will be a lot of candidates coming through. i wanted to talk about the big issues and the big questions that need to be addressed for 2012. >> are you a nominee?

>> i did not come here for personal ambition. i came here because there are some big issues that need to be framed. the issues are the ones i mentioned. will the united states remained an exceptional nation? will we remain a nation of sovereign citizens where we make our own decisions? or will we be ruled by self- appointed, bureaucratic elites? we need to keep that in mind going forward when we look for a nominee. whoever that nominee will be, we need to make sure that they understand how serious these times are. we need bold moves by whoever gets into that office. they need to have the fortitude to take -- fortitude to carry that out. >> you said you had a bid announcement to make. and he just said you were glad to be on -- a big announcement to make. if you just said you were glad

to be on. >> i am glad to be home. i know it is shocking when a girl goes to iowa that speculation might come along. i am here to be a part of the compensation for 2012. i am certainly a part of the conversation. there has been no decision about candidacy, but i certainly want to be part of the time the session -- part of the conversation. the main focus is on what we need to do and what we need to accomplish for the next 12 months. there is an important narrative we need to make on the conservative side. that is that the policies that barack obama has put into place are devastating for continuing our nation as an exceptional nation. unless we repealed many of his bad pieces of legislation, i believe that will lead us into becoming a nation in decline

rather than a nation on ascendancy. for to london to 34 years, we have been a nation in --fo for 234 years, we have been a nation in the sentencing -- nation in the ascendancy. i am focus on what we need to be talking about on the next 12 months. i think our nominee will bubble up to the surface in about one year from now. we all will know who that nominee is. we need to be talking about important things over the next 12 months. >> you indicated some misunderstandings for that slavery analogy. did you want to clarify what he meant? >> i thought i was very clear. it is by this to death and bind this to decline -- bondage

to debt and bondage to decline. >> why is health care reform socialized medicine? >> the way the legislation is built, we will see a decline in the health-care industry. if we see a class of the private -- clash with the private insurance industry, it will mean greater costs. already with obamacare, we have seen people report they have seen increases in their insurance premiums of 25% or 45%. this is what obamacare is. you're getting less in terms of health care and you are getting less. pay more, get less. what a deal. i do not think the american people will go for obamacare. we need to keep our focus.

this was a signal -- this is a signature issue for 2012. that and the overwhelming debt we are accumulating. >> how frequently do you expect to visit your home state in the next year? >> probably every weekend. [applause] thank you. where is the "waterloo courier"? [captioning performed by national captioning institute]

[captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2011] >> c-span's wrote to the white house continues with remarks by former pennsylvania republican senator, rick santorum. he spoke to republican party members in south carolina, which will be one of the first states to hold a 2012 presidential primary. this portion is about 20 minutes. >> i am talking loud enough? good. thank you for giving me the opportunity to be here today. i will make a few remarks. then i would like to get your questions and your thoughts. of all the things on my resume, usually the things that get the most reaction from the audience is the last thing on the resume. the fact that karen and i are raising seven amazing children. i got a question from a young

lady in the back. she said, why are you out here? why are you doing this? in large part, it is those seven children and other children. when you look at the state of this country -- seven kids is a big responsibility. one of our kids is a special needs girl who needs a lot of care. it is a conflict with me to think about why am i here? i am here because of what has been happening in this country, particularly in the last couple of years. but over the last two dozen years, we have seen this country, our basic freedoms, it winnowed away and taken by an powerfulreasing th, government in washington, d.c. i always think about a fraud. you put a frog in a pot --0- i

always think about -- i always think about a frog. if you put a frog in a pot on the stove and turn up the heat, it will jump out. i would like to thank nancy pelosi, and harry reid, and barack obama for turning that heat up on the stove. and a lot of others, me included, who were sitting there letting the heat rise and rise when america was cooked. and we jumped out. that is what the tea party is all about. that is what all of these organizations and people who have come all live off of their couches. i was going to say something else, but it is being recorded. all of their couches and out into the streets. if you want to know the difference between what is a point on in america and what is going on in the rest of

america with respect to this march toward socialism, look of the protests. in europe, you have people in greece and ireland and france and spain processing because government is taking something away from them. in this country, you have people in the streets protesting because government is trying to do too much to us. that is the essence of the difference between america. all of you understand that difference. our deep in a the-all our dna in america is different from the -- our dna in america is different from the dna in other places in the world. the declaration of independence sums up the heart of american exceptionalism. the heart of american exceptionalism is this phrase, we are endowed by our creator with certain inalienable rights.

that phrase sums up america better than any other phrase. it is what makes us different than people we see as our allies, see as our friends, even see as similar to us. but they are not. if you think about our founding document and what the founding fathers were trying to get across, it was revolutionary. we came from a continent where that was not true. we came from a continent where the beef was that god gave rise to the sovereign, to the king. then the king or the queen spread the wealth around. in america, we did not believe that. we believe that every individual has rights given to them by god. the foundation of our country, the foundation of everything we believe in is the belief in

god and that god gives each of us writes that the government is supposed to respect. that is a -- god gives each of us rights that the government is supposed to respect. my father and grandfather came to this country because of that, because of the promise of respecting the dignity of every human life, respecting the dignity of their work and their faith in their pursuit of creating stronger families. that is the essence of america. that is not what is going on or what went on in europe. it is no surprise to me to see europe in the state that they are in. one of the things you hear from the american left -- they are angry about what is going on in america right now. they do not understand why america is not going in the same

direction as europe, why we resist socialism. what is socialism? socialism, but for another name, is the same as a monarchy. it is the government taking care of you, the government getting the rights from god and spreading the wealth around. in europe, they are used to that. they are used to being taken care of. we are not. and we won't. [applause] it is that which has brought people out of the woodwork and brought me to be here and traveling around the country to try to deliver a message that i hope will unify this country.

and bring us to a point where we are willing to stand up and say, government, we can do with less. if you look at my record, i came to the time was in 1990. i would not say -- i came to the congress in 1990. i would not say it was a miracle. it was during the time of bush 41. bush had forgotten to read his lips. if you were a republican, you were not doing too well. i ran against the subcommittee chairman on one of the most important committees in congress. he had $1 million that he's been. i spent about $200,000. i grew up -- he had $1 million that he spent. i spent $200,000. i grew up in western

pennsylvania, but i had never lived in that county. i lived in a neighboring county. i spent about five years in that district. i was frustrated with the person. i ran and no one gave me a chance. on election night, when i won the election, i stood up and talked about how government was getting too big. i talked about the respect for human life and the importance of the family. we had a message that connected at that time. i was able to beat a 14-year democratic incumbent. that night, it was reported that this man lost. the wall street journal has -- "the wall street journal" has these little blubs at the bottom of the paper. they said, we heard this congressman in pennsylvania

lost. can you tell us the name of the person who beat him? that was on the front page of the "the wall street journal." . they did not know who i was. i came to washington, d.c. with one thing in mind, to do the right thing for the country. and i did. i started out with a guy named john boehner. you might have heard that john boehner is speaker. there was a group of us who saw corruption in the house of representatives. we said we would not stand for this. members of congress had bank accounts. i was told when i signed up and turned in my papers to become a member of congress that you have to have your paycheck deposited in the house bank. i said, why can it be deposited in right? they said it had to be deposited in the house bank.

six months later, there was a report that came out that said the members of congress were writing bad checks on their bank accounts from the house bank and the taxpayers were covering it. i thought that was outrageous. boehner and a few others. we said something about it. they ignored us. they said, this is not a problem. this is no big deal. it turned out, this report had been issued for 20 years. every two years they did a review and issued a report. the same thing happen. a group of congrressmen issued a -- congrressmen did a press conference and it went away. for two years, we stayed on it. we found out about the

corruption in the house bank and the house post office. it led to the conviction of the chairman of the house ways and means committee, dan rostenkowski. here is the interesting part, it was hard to stand up to the democratic majority who had been there for 40 years. i tell you what was hard, standing up for your own leadership. two of the members who ended up losing their elections were in the republican leadership. they put huge pressure on all of us to back down. but we did not back down. it was not the right thing to do. two years later, i had to get reelected. it was 1992. that is a redistricting year. two of our congressional seats were lost. it was probably south carolina. all of you pits birth people are

moving down here. the cost me my seat. the-all of the pittsburgh people are moving down here. -- all of you pittsburg people are moving down here. you cost me my seat. we are talking about the steel valley of pittsburgh. it is tough. 17% democratic district. i ran in 1992. george bush got 29% of the vote when he was running for reelection. i got 60%. i decided that we had another election in 1994. before i get to that -- when i came back, i was put on the ways and means committee. no one else was particularly interested in this subject area called welfare. i was.

i got a ranking member of the subcommittee that dealt with welfare reform. i ended up overover a two year period of time working on legislation that was included in the contract with america. in 1994, i decided to run for the united states senate. i beat the incumbents badly. no one thought he could be beaten. everyone wanted to run for an open governor's seat. in 1994, i won. only two democratic incumbents lost in 1994.

i defeated a democratic incumbent again. i defeated a democratic incumbents to run the house. the-democratic -- democratic incumbent to win the house. i defeated a democratic incumbent to win thathe senate. we put term limits on our leaders. we made rule changes to make congress accountable. i led the fight on the floor of the united states senate as a freshman member in my second year in office. to reform the welfare system. i worked with the clinton administration and the house and we were able to craft a compromise to do something that had never been done in the history of america, to end a broad federal entitlement. welfare reform passed in 1996.

we pass with 17 votes. we ended entitlement and got almost half of the democratic caucus to join us because of the way we work to get it done. did we compromise? yes, we did. if we compromise on principles? no, we did not. that is the magic. unless we are going to deal with the huge problem of federal incumbents -- federal entitlements, we will not get our deficit under control. you have someone who has actually works to do it. i did not stop there. i started working on social security in 1997. i went on air force one to kansas city missouri -- to kansas city, missouri to talk about how we need to reform the social security system. i come from the state that has the oldest per-capita population of seniors in the country.

i would say that our seniors rely on social security more. all of the rich seniors moved to florida and south carolina. no offense. [laughter] the folks in pennsylvania rely on social security. here i was, two years out of the senate and i am running around trying to change the system. we did not see a blue dress coming along and messing up social security reform. i kept saying there was one day in the future that would change everything. unless we do something by this date, the reform of social security will be fixed. we will have to do bad things like raise taxes or cut benefits. i said this date in the future is we have to get it done by that date.

do you know what dates we had to -- do you know what date i was talking about? january 2011. that is when the baby boomers retire. by that time, it is over. if we do not do it by that time, we will be running a deficit in social security. and we are. but we have to deal with social security. we have to repeal obamacare, which is the next big -- [applause] we cannot do that. the house is going to pass that this week or next. it will not pass in the senate. there might be some democratic votes in the senate to repeal it. it will not pass. it will certainly not pass with this president. if we want to repeal a multi- trillion dollar program and

start on the process of fiscal sanity, we have to elect a republican president in 2012 and republican senators in 2012 so that we have the margin to get that done [applause] . -- to get that done. [applause] we also have to work on medicare and medicaid. if there are questions about that, i will take them. i am optimistic about america. because of what i talked about in the beginning, our dna. we are not to them. we are different. we saw that in the last election. i believe we will see it again in 2012. you folks have a disproportionate impact on what is going to happen. you happen to be the first in the south primary state in the

2012 primary -- 2012 presidential election. you will see lots of people coming through here talking about what they will do and what they have done. it will be up to you. i do not think there has been a republican nominated for president who has not won south carolina. 1980? you folks have a huge impact. you are the human resources department in the country. there is a good crowd here today. you take that responsibility seriously. please do. it is an opportunity that you have to do something great for your country. i know there are some military people here. the thing to serve your country, you have to put a uniform on. no, you do not.

you have to put your citizenship uniform on and engage in the process, but cicilline now. our country is at a crossroads. -- you have to put your citizenship uniform on ending date in the process, -- and engaged in the process, particularly now. they believe they are smarter than everybody else. they believe they can plan things out for everybody and tell everybody how to live their lives. tell them what their education, health care, financial services system will look like because they are smart people in washington. and out here, we are not that smart. we are flyover people. our founders did not look at it that way. they were more aristocratic and the people we have in washington, d.c. today. they believed in the power of

people with god-given rights. one final fact you need to remember about how exceptional america is. the average life expectancy in 1776 was roughly the same as it was at the time of jesus christ. for 1800 years there have been developments and changes, but nothing much happened because of how people were ruled. they were not free. one's freedom was given to people, once their inherent -- once freedom was given to people, once their inherent dignity was recognize, life expectancy has doubled. not just here, but in other places around the world. it is not just because that is where technology was and it was going to happen everywhere?

really? did it happen in the muslim world? no, it did not. did it happen in a communist country? no, it did not. it happened because of us. this is the gift your parents gave you. you are the stewards of this great inheritance. it is on your watch now and it is at risk. i pray that you do what they did and stand up and leave america at least as great as what you have. >> new hampshire held a republican presidential straw poll is today. a look at the results from this more 's "washington journal." -- from this morning's

"washington journal." politics. you are quoted by saying for years, two families dominated politics. that changed over the weekend. guest: judge greg retired from the u.s. senate. he is argue nlly the most success fum judge in new hampshire.

beginning in 1996. went went to the senate in 1992. for a number of years, these two families dominated the politics. now we are finishing with a new person.

>> he was really outraged by some of the spending done in the first few months in office. he began to put his first political act putting anti-obama messages on his business's sign saying something about bail outs.

started some tea party groups and ran for governor. he received about 30% of the vote in a republican primary. we had a con tenuous u.s. senate race. he is solidly conservative. sometimes, he puts his foot in his mouth. he compared paying taxes to rape for example. he has brought a lot of energy to the table. there were over 400 people out of 500 state committee members.

the national story came out of the meeting. 400 committee members in this none binding straw poll. now getting 35% of the vote. coming in second, congressman ron paul. sarah palin four and backman safeth. let me remind you mit romney did announce he will run for

president later in the spring. the primary is a year away. a number of these candidates, we knew everybody running for president. now we have a situation where maybe a handful of candidates have staffers on the ground. romney is not a new hampshire residence. he is technically a resident of massachusetts. he had the expectations he had to do fairly well. i think he met those with a clear victory.

host: michele bachmann was in iowa last weekend. we cover her last evening. she will be delivering the tea party response on the tea party web site on tuesday following the state of the union address. let's listen to what she said when reporters questioned her about whether she will run next year. >> you understand that now your name is in the presidential conversation. will that continue for months to come? >> i know it is shocking when a girl goes to iowa. speculation might come along.

i am here to be a part of the compensation for 2012. i am is certainly part of the conversation. there is no decision about a candidacy, but i want to be part of the conversation. host: that was michele bachmann friday in iowa. tim pawlenty will be in your state in bedford, new hampshire. guest: this will be close to his 10th trip to the state. he actually spent a lot of time here. he is close to john mccain. john mccain is the two-time defending champion for the new hampshire primary. he is trying to build a base here. we are in a period in new hampshire where any candidate who wants to step up and take the reins, it is their show. we have seen so much energy.

we had a house party just a couple of weeks ago with rick santorum. almost 200 people attended this house party. rick santorum did not do particularly well in the straw poll. he did not have a lot of support. people come to new hampshire to get the process going. host: thank you for joining us. previewing the straw poll that took place in new hampshire. the headline, mitt romney coming in first followed by ron paul and tim pawlendy. ty. >> question time with british prime minister david cameron.