prep. i helped lead the bull winkles. i worked with or reagan every day. i am proud that we helped turn this great country around. then i ran for governor of louisiana, served four years, beat and admittedly corrupt edwin edwards after he spelle -- span $12 million. we sold airplanes, limos, delayed paychecks, did not replace workers who quit. we forced the oil and chemicals to clean up the air and water. we dropped toxic emissions by 41%. we stopped prevailing wage. we anchored the unions, but we build on the right to work.

we broke teacher tenure by testing teachers, to find out who can teach and we paid them 30% more. if that was not enough to get the attention of the corrupt good old boy network, i changed parties while in office. i blamed president reagan. he was always on me, you should be a republican, but. the democrats at this date by strangled. there was no debate. i decided that we needed a debate. i decided louisiana needed to be -- the polls were horrible to

do that. they said he will lose your reelection, and i did by a whisker. it was a tough battle. edwin edwards and david duke, how would you like to campaign against them? we lost it by a whisper, and they both went to the penitentiary. [applause] for the last 15 years, i have been building banks, community banks, main street banks, banks that come to their greatness one loan that time, one person at that time. the old-fashioned way. main street, not wall street. this is not about my past. it is about our future. i think america is in trouble. the debt is amounting, and is

resting on the chests of my grandchildren. spending is out of control. we spend $300 billion of month, and we'd borrow $120 billion of that. we've borrowed from our enemies or our competitors -- china, japan, and the tyrants in the middle east. there is no end in sight, and the president's own budget, he has got to in years of deficit. he will add more to the national debt in his four years than all presidents or him combine. what is washington doing? thank god for the tea party. i noticed -- [applause] thank god for paul ryan and the

republican party and steve king and others. washington is not about leadership. washington is not about the people. washington is about money and reelection. had he figured it out? -- have you figured it out? i will tell you a story, the nation is hurting, and washington, d.c., is a boom town. how does that grab you? i tell you what they are addicted to. special interest money, all i want is access money, wall street money, to be to fail money. union money, the pac money, pac money back money, corporate money, a pharmaceutical money, all subsidy money, ethanol subsidy money, insurance money, tort reform money.

the system is institutionally corrupt. where are the people? they're left that. i go to washington once every two or three years, to spend a couple of days, see what the old boys are doing -- nothing. they have a fund raiser every night, and the old guys are auctioning off for their retirement so they can be a lobbyist. am i telling the truth? that is washington, d.c. there are guys that right health care bills of 2100 pages and they do not even mention tort reform or farmers to the will competition. they write banking bills and they are a joke. too big to fail is still allowed in this country, and banks are bigger than ever, and greedier

than ever. wall street is not what it used to be, and they are not main street. i challenge the system. i challenge it. i declare my independence. i will take no more than $100 maximum contribution from any individual, $100. i will take no pac money, and i report every name and address. why would i do it? the only way to do the things that newt wants to do or tim pawlenty, good people, or mr. cain, or anybody running, the only way to do it is have a president who is free, who is free to do the right thing, who was freed to lead. [applause] all people say, roemer is a smart guy, i went to harvard at

16, studied economics and got a master's degree from harvard business school, and build all these companies. yeah. it is not about how smart i am. they then go on to say, he cannot win. he is running for governor. i am running for president, and it is $100. it is in reach of every family, even -- every person of faith. and we can take this country back again. they say he cannot win. you know what i need? one person out of every hundred. if i get one out of a hundred, i will have 3 million americans give a hundred dollars in the primary. we will raise $300 million. that is more than john mccain raised. it can be done, and then when the primary is over and you and i are -- on the purse, which will turn on the president of the united states.

we will get two people out of 100 to join us, and we will raise $600 million, and we will let in. we will change this country. i have always wanted to do it. i have always wanted to challenge what i saw when i was in congress. i did not take pac money then. i always wanted to send -- set a hundred dollar limit to walk across iowa, new hampshire, south carolina, and the proposition, make a deal. to free people, free people of faith, they should get involved. i want a president free to lead on energy independence. this nation ought to be freed from the middle east. [applause]

when i said that policy, we can do it by the end of this decade, i will eliminate the ethanol subsidy. i want to tell you, iowa, and i will eliminate the oil subsidy. the price of oil is $106 a barrel. what do they need a subsidy for? at the law takes -- out of 10 of every cornfield. four rows out of 10 that is not the hungry or necessary. -- four rows out of 10. you carved out the inefficiencies. but business principles there businessi.t. and standard software. we have to get rid of my little deal and your little deal, and

put together our deal. i declare my independence. i ask you to join me with $5 or $10 or $20 or $100. not anymore. i ask you to spread the word. i ask you to tell people that a seasoned warrior, against the special interest money, is in the race. i ask you to tell them that he is old enough to know what to do and young enough to get it done. [laughter] i ask you to tell them that he has been in business battles and political battles come from local to national. i ask you to tell them that he has the scars to prove fvalor and courage, and by god, he is a friendly man, too.

finally, i know there are some who will dismiss our chances. they say do not considerdbuddy. he cannot win. let's suppose that there is one of you here today, just one, who would reach out across old wounds and down the mississippi river and say, let's go, but the. just one. and that tomorrow he added one person to that. and the next day we doubled those. just people who say, buddy, washington is all special interest, and i am with you. in 21 days, we would have a million people. in 20 days, we would have america. we are this close. listen to me up, iowa.

where this close to taking this country back. we're this close to doing the right thing. cannot think it is too big a job. i know all the other candidates are good people and they have pacs and they have airplanes. all i have got is me and you. i think it is enough. when we declare our independence we are finished with our service i believe our nation will be stronger, freer, happier, safer, more at work, and more at peace than it is today. there will be surprises. there will be setbacks. but we will aim high, and i believe that america can compete again. i have been to china more times than all the others put together, including the

president. i've watched the competitors up close. that is what i do. the cynics will say it cannot be done, $100 of the time. that is the only way to do it. i am a book man. proverbs, 13:11. read it when you get home tonight. i will read you to lines. if honest money dwindles away, but he who gathers money makes it grow. [applause] as a young man at harvard, from the cotton farm, 16, never been away from home, my first airplane ride, i was there two days, 1960, and i met robert frost.

a poet who was my hero. he was 80, 81. he wrote a poem hundred years ago, and i will read you four lines. and going out to clean that pasture spring. i only stopped to rake the leaves away. and wait to watch the water clear, i may. gone long.e you come, too, iowa. we have rotten leaves covering our spring. we do not need a new spring. we need to clean what god gave us. i run to challenge the corrupt system. i run to dream of all the things that could be and make america that place for you. i am preparing to run for president. you come, too, iowa. you are our heart.

thank you. [applause] >> you go, buddy! >> tim pawlenty often says that people's politics are rooted where they come from. that is south st. paul minnesota, a blue-collar neighborhood that was the home to the largest stockyards in america when he was growing up. one of five children, his father was a truck driver, and his mom passed away when he was young. he worked hard and became the first in his family to graduate from college. while he went on to law school , his siblings went on to become homemakers and grocers,

and they became the center of his life. although they were democrats, at least until when he became governor of minnesota in 2002. i sure you his background because his leadership is rooted in the values he learned growing up. the values of hard work and family, and a promise of upward mobility. those values that guided him as governor, where he worked to of our people by reforming schools, cutting health-care costs, a lid on taxes. say no to taxes and spending is not easy anywhere, at him has gone towed to toe with democrats, unions, special interests. under his leadership, minnesota has flourished. the station has nation-leading health care, the highest school test scores, an economy that is doing significantly better than most of the other states.

during his eight years, he was a champion for family values and set up for the rights of the unborn. while being a conservative, fighting the liberal minnesota established and can be a lonely endeavor. he was fortunate to have his wife at his side for the last 22 years trip since they met, mary has also had accomplished career, serving as a district judge in minnesota and helping to raise their daughters. the family attends with dale church. it is my honor to introduce to you, the former governor of minnesota, tim pawlenty. >> thanks a lot. as president obama would say, you are welcome.

as the story goes, then president lyndon baines johnson assembled his team into the cabinet room of the white house, and he characteristically and loudly yelled out down the table, he said, moyers, who was the press secretary, why don't you start the meeting with a prayer. bill moyers began to pray down at the other end, and lbj belt out again, said, we cannot hear you down at the end of the room. as the story goes, moyers said, with all due respect sir, it was not you i was talking to. that is a great story about remembering where we get our help from, where we look to from

our guidance and leisure. i want to thank the faith and freedom coalition for having their 11th annual gathering. it is very important. i want to thank chuck and the leadership of this or a position -- of this organization. we have a lot of challenges in this country at this moment and in this intersection. i am reminded of another time when our country faced similar challenges. we had a brutal and difficult election but ronald reagan won the presidency. [applause] the country had almost seemingly insurmountable economic challenge. we had trouble abroad and security concerns, many of the same challenges we are facing today and in that january day that was overcast, ronald reagan came from out of the capital and

he stood at the podium and said later he felt even though the day was overcast and that moment, he thought a beam of sunshine had hit him and warmed up the podium in a way in time for his swearing in. he put his hand on the bible and took the oath of office as president of the united states of america and that bible was open to the second chronicles, 7-14. the passage says this. if my people who are called by my name shall humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turned from their wicked ways, i will hear from heaven, and forgive their sins and heal their land. and now reagan who could not have known, his mom wrote in the margins, "a great passage for

healing the nation's." that was great direction. it is great direction in our time and it is great direction for the future of this country for all time. we need to know where our help comes from. we need to be a country that turns toward god, not a country that turns away from god. [applause] this is not the rhetoric o. this is a founding premise. the thought it was so important, so profoundly important, the imbedded into the founding documents in this country. there are many eloquent examples, you know of them. i will give you a few by way of example. in the declaration of independence, it says we are endowed by our creator with

certain inalienable rights. it does not say we are endowed by our member of congress or our bureaucrat, or our school board member, our freedoms and privileges r grant, a blessing from our creator. we need to make sure we remember that and our freedoms are gift from our creator and constitution. it guarantees that will continue and 49 of the 50 states have language in the beginning of their constitution like iowa. like minnesota. in our constitution, similar to your language. our says -- powers says we the people of minnesota, grateful to god for our civil and religious liberties and it goes on to talk about the importance of perpetuating those blessings for future generations to come. we need to remember as others try to push or marginalize people of faith, we need to

remember this and always remember it. the constitution was designed to protect people of faith from government, not to protect government from people of faith. [applause] leadership matters a lot. the leaders nationally set the tone in the pace in the focus for our nation in these matters and we have a problem in washington, d.c. and we have some of the leaders there who believe the enormous moral debt in our country does not matter. it matters. just because we followed greece into democracy does not mean we follow the lead to bankruptcy. we have people who believe the unborn do not have a right to life.

yes, they do. [applause] we have people who say, marriage will be defined however we feel like defining it. no, it will not. it should be defined as between a man and a woman. [applause] we have people who believe that the judges in the elite and other should decide. they need to be reminded the constitution does not say, with the judge's or week, the media. or we, the elite. it says, we the people. we tell them what to do. they do not tell us what to do. [applause] i got a lot of folks who say this is tough. the country is divided. there's a lot of challenges.

interest groups are powerful and it is difficult. you're looking at someone who is the conservative governor of the state of mccarthy, mondale, humphrey, wellstone, and united states senator al franken. as frank sinatra would sing, if we can do it there we can do it anywhere. if you look at my record as governor, we have a record and this is important. chalk spoke about it today in the newspaper. as the conservative -- ask the conservative movement and people who have had their hopes high and been disappointed. we need leaders who can not just talk the talk but who can walk the walk. we need people that you know based on who they are and what they believe and why they believe that, who will stand in with their compass setting set right and move forward with

fortitude and strength and courage and get the job done. in minnesota during my time as governor, we took spending down and reduced it for the first 150 years.w zero in on we cut taxes even though we had recessions. we reformed one of the first states to do bold public employee pension reform. we were the first state to go statewide to have performance pay on teachers other than to pay them on security but performance. we did welfare reform and for reform and all the things the country needs and is talking about now. there are four governors in the country that got an "a" from the libertarian cato institute. one was in south carolina, in louisiana, west virginia, and i

was the other one. i was the only one in the north half of the country that got that great. -- grade. [applause] none of that was easy. in the single season record holder for issuing of visas -- videos. we had the first and only government shutdown in a 150- year eithehistory on my watch. we had one of the august transit strikes in the history of the country because our government bus drivers thought they should able to work 15 years and be able to have the government pay for their health insurance for the rest of their life. we took a strike, 44 days, shut down the transit system for months and a half the in the 15th largest metropolitan area in the country.

we had the usual protests and the noises in sights and sounds. i had people standing outside my window with signs saying tim pawlenty is a weapon of mass transit destruction. i would go around the state on this issue and many like it and say if you are not in government, how many of you get to work 15 years and have the government pay for your health insurance for the rest of your life? no hands ever win out. the the i would say, do you know that bus drivers get that? how they do? you are paying for that. we are? do you think we should shut that benefit of? heck, yeah. we got big issues to tackle and none of those are easy. those are examples of the kind of thing we tackle. it ain't gonna be easy. if prosperity were easy, everyone in the world would be prosperous and if security were

easy, everybody in the world would be secure. if freedom were easy, everybody in the world would be free. but they are not. it takes extraordinary commitment, it takes extraordinary strength to stand up to the people who oppose these principles. valley forge was not easy. settling the west was not easy. winning world war ii was not easy. going to the moon was not easy. this is not about easy, this is about rolling up our sleeves and plowing ahead and getting the job done. [applause] this is about our country. we, the people of the united states will rise up again. we will take back our government. we are the people of this country. this is our country. our founding