have a thriving town centers. >> the chairman of the georgian parliament in london this week, following our proceedings. will he remind russia of the commitment it gave in 2008 to withdraw its troops to stop the occupation in russia? >> i will certainly do that. i remember myself going to tbilisi, when the georgians were under so much pressure from the russians, and georgia is a country that wanted to democracy, and economic story. it wants to join nato. it wants to look west as well as east, and it wants to have good relations with its neighbor. i am delighted that the honorable lady is meeting representatives from the georgian government, and i will certainly make my views clear on the issue of georgia when i visit russia later this year. >> does my right honorable friend agree that the key challenge facing the national health service is out to convert this government's welcome commitment to a year-on-year growth of real resources into

improving productivity and improving quality of care for patients? and is not the key to delivering that, did not lie in my right honorable friend's speech yesterday in his advocacy of a more integrated and less fragmented care? and will he continue to -- >> order. we are grateful to the right honorable judge solomon. i think we have got the thrust of it. >> my right honorable friend support is hugely welcome. it was not just he who welcome to the speech that i set out yesterday. also, i had expressed support for the royal college of nurses, the royal college of physicians, the nhs confederation, matt millen cancer support, and break through breast cancer. we can see that this government is listening, getting their changes right, and we will add the money that is required to

make sure the nhs can go on and ride in the future. >> thank you, mr. speaker. the prime minister will be aware of the dastardly murders of senior police officers and the subsequent public inquiry, established in consultation between this nation's government and the irish republic government. will he make sure that nothing is allowed to impede an anglo- irish relations, by making personal representation to the prime minister of the irish republic, such that they cannot restrict the timings, the efforts, and the money put into that inquiry so that we can get to the truth and find out how these two brave police of the serbs were dastardly murder of >> i was certainly a very carefully at the issue. there is a huge concern about things that happens in the past, where often people ask for an inquiry or a public inquiry, or a process. i think in most cases, what

people really want is the truth, and i found with the issue of the civil inquiry is that it was not the 120 million or the five years or all of the rest of it. when people wanted was the unvarnished truth so they could come to terms with what happened in the past, and i do not want to see more open ended increase, but i do think there is more that we can do to uncover the truth, -- to see more open ended inquiries. >> each week that the house of commons is in session, we have "prime minister's questions," wednesday and sunday night on c- span. watch anytime on c-span.org. you can find videos of past "prime minister's questions" and other british public affairs programs. [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2011]

>> tonight, former governor gary johnson. later, senator rick santorum. and then, pierre thomas. our "wrote to the white house to be covered starts with g.o.p. candidates and gary johnson, former new mexico governor. some of the topics discussed involve gay marriage, reducing debt, and the issues that shaped his political career. this is about 30 minutes. >> gary johnson, former new mexico governor, 2012 republican presidential candidate, i think everybody is apprehensive about what has happened recently. i am talking about the economy and certainly what is going forward, and i m sharing in that. i am concerned that we are on the verge of and financial

pullout, which would be a bond market collapse, because there is nobody paid $14 trillion in debt, given the fact that our ongoing deficit is $1.65 trillion this year. it is not going to happen, so it would be a bond market collapse, and that could happen virtually any day. the only way we even get that is to balance the federal budget and to do that right away, so that is what i am advocating, a balanced federal budget tomorrow, and i am optimistic. i am optimistic guy. i am optimistic we can actually do this. this would be difficult, very difficult, but it would never be easy to accomplish them right away. there will be a complete breakdown of our currency, given the fact that we are printing the amount of money that we are

printing, and we do not have enough borrowers out there, lenders who want to loan us money. >> so if you look at this as a politician, a former governor, and citizen, how did we get to this point? who is responsible? >> we, ultimately, are all responsible, because we have selected as one congressman, one senator, and one president at a time. i have lived my entire life watching government spend more money than it takes in, and starting, i guess, at the age of nine, i am wondering, how is this sustainable? and for me, the issue has always been the government is spending more money than it takes in. how is that sustainable? and quite simply, do we not have to spend the amount -- how can we spend beyond what it is we collect and to do that year after year, and now, i would just say, of course, it has

never been to this extent, and that is what makes it so imminent, if you will, and "limited" meeting financial collapse. >> so based on that, why do you want to be president? >> i would not be running for president if i did not think i could do this job and if i did not think i could do a good job at it, and, of course, that would be based on my resume and that i am an entrepreneur. i have been an entrepreneur for most of my life and started a one-man business in albuquerque in 1974 and 1994 actually had 1000 employees. i ran for governor of new mexico, and i want. i will make the claim i made a big difference in the state of new mexico by standing upright -- standing up and say, "do we really need to be spending this much money? will government be making that much of a difference in our

lives?" i was willing to say no. with some notoriety, i vetoed some 750 bills while i was governor of new mexico. i have several line item vetoes as governor of new mexico. putting that into perspective, that may be a bit of intelligence, but i vetoed more bills than the other 49 governors combined. only four of them were " overridden. it made a difference. it got played out. that got played out. in the newspaper, in print, on the radio, every single day. in a state that is two to one democrat, i think having rendered that many vetoes, having stood up and really talked about government and the government role and the notion that the government is the government that rules the least, i got reelected by a bigger

margin the second time than the first time. >> the gary johnson brand of politics, what is your ideology? are you a republican? are you a libertarian? are you a conservative? what labels would you attached to yourself? >> i hate labels, but let's use labels. 60% believe they are fiscally conservative and socially liberal. i may be a classic liberal, period, someone who believes that the government that was best is the government that rules least, someone that believes that the best thing to do is to allow me to be the individual that i choose to be, give me an equal shot at the american dream, give me a shot

at the fact that you can go from having nothing in this country to having everything in this country if you are willing to work hard and innovate to do that. i think what people are so upset about is the notion that this country is unfair, and i saw that as the governor of new mexico. legislation that favored individuals, groups, business, as opposed to legislation that would have affected going back to al level playing field, giving everyone an equal shot, as opposed to on fair, and i saw it all of the time, and i think that is what people are so upset about in this country. >> what is the role of the federal government, and are there things that this government is doing today that it should get out of >> it is not so much as a culmination of what it has become. let me just give education as an example. what should the federal government do beyond any other single thing to improve

education in this country? i would offer that we abolish the federal department of education, and let me say that the federal government gives the states about 11 cents out of every dollar that every state spends, but that is money that the state sent the federal government and the first place, and now it comes back as a little less, about 11 cents, but then it comes with 16 cents worth of strings attached, so it is really a negative to take federal money when it comes to education. just to give education back to the states. laboratories of innovation, 50. 50 laboratories of best practices. there would be best practices. best practices would be emulated. there would be failure. failure would be avoided. but if we had 50 laboratories working on best educational systems, we would improve. we are all competitive.

we are going to emulate the success. we are going to avoid the failure. the idea that washington knows best, that one size fits all, intuitively, we know that does not work. when we see it played out at the federal government every single day, whether that is health care or education, you can name it, and the states would do better addressing these issues, as municipalities do better than the states. >> paul ryan has put on the table and republican plan that would give the states more control over health care, create a voucher like system, and reduce the federal involvement in medicare. what is your view of that? >> i completely concur. first of all, i believe we need to cut government expenditures by 43%, because that is the amount of money we are borrowing and printing to cover our obligations, the 1.65 trillion dollar dollars deficit. >> where do you get that?

>> that is the amount of money we are borrowing and printing to cover the amount of money that we do not have the we are spending, the $1.65 trillion. the limit in the deficit would be cutting best by 43%. >> -- >> medicare's going to engulf the entire federal budget in a very short amount of time it is not brought under control, so this is where politically you get into ground where everybody is fearful, and this is where deaf ear comes into play, but how about the notion that the federal government gives the delivery of health care to those over 65 to the states and take over the mandates and give the states a free raid on how the one to deliver health care to those over 65? going back to the 50

laboratories of innovation, the 50 laboratories of best practices, there would be innovation and failure that would be avoided. we have a fee-for-service model that has led the charge in the rush towards bankruptcy doors. >> do you have a doctor or a set of guidelines a basically would guide you if you look at what is happening in europe, in china and elsewhere? >> well, the guidelines start with should we provide ourselves with a strong national defense? >> -- >> yes, we should provide ourselves with a strong national defense. i think it has gone way beyond that notion. we should be looking at military threats to the united states. that is what we should remain vigilant warrior.

i was opposed to us going into iraq from the very beginning. i did not see a military threat from iraq. i know a lot of is being said about weapons of mass destruction, but what i thought and what i said was that we have the military surveillance capability to see a rapid roll out any weapons of mass destruction. if we do that, we can go in and address that situation. i thought if we went into iraq, we would find ourselves in a civil war for which there rubino and. afghanistan, initially, we were attacked. we attack back. we are at war with terrorism. we are at war with al qaeda. having been in afghanistan for six months, we effectively have wiped out al qaeda. that was 10 years ago. we are building roads, schools, bridges, highways, and hospitals

in iraq and afghanistan. we are using 43 cents out of every dollar to do that. do we not have that same me here? and worst of all, servicemen and women are losing their lives. libya. when we went into libya, i issued a paper. i am opposed to what we are doing here a through z. where was the military threat? where was the military threat? it did not exist. where in the constitution doesn't say that because we do not like a foreign dictator, we should go in and talk all that foreign dictator? where is the congressional authorization to go into libya, and that is something that as president of united states, i think that is a terrific check. congress. so i would be checking in with congress if there were any military interventions that i wanted to partaken.

back to libya. are there not five other countries that would get the same intervention that we have implemented with libya there does not seem to be an end to our foreign military involvement, and i do not know if we have made ourselves any safer. >> some of those were with george w. bush with support from republicans. what does that tell you about the bush administration, and what lessons were to take away from that? >> i think that both parties share in where we have got into today. president obama as health care plan, i would want to repeal health-careama's plan because we cannot afford it. they ran up record deficits

under bush. politicians are responsible for this. ultimately, you and i are responsible for this because we have elected this foreign- policy while congress person, one senator, and one president at a time. >> gay rights and gay marriages. what is your view? >> i think that government should get out of the civil marriage business and leave that to the churches. included in gay rights would be the ability for gays to be united cybele. >> abortion. >> i support a woman's right to choose up until viability of a fetus. as governor of new mexico, i signed a bill banning late term abortions tree and i have always favored parental notification. i have always favored

counseling. i have always favored no public funds be used for abortion. >> prayer in public schools. >> prayer in public schools. as governor of new mexico, that was a question i got past also. the notion of a private period, it reflected period, i do not know that that is negative, but there needs to be a separation of church and state, and the notion of prayer that may exclude those, that is something that constitutionally we should be on guard against. >> oh on these issues, you may find differences from some of your other presidential candidates, and certainly among a certain sector of the republican party. how does that play out in a primary for gary johnson? >> analogous to running for governor of new mexico, for those republicans that these were the biggest issues, i did not get their boats in the

primary. new mexico was a state that was two to one democrat, if i were to win the primary, i could go on and do quite well. i think i got all of the votes in the general election. the focus moves out to other issues, and i think those are the bigger issues. i think that is analogous to me doing this today, running for president of the united states. >> at what age did you move to new mexico? >> when i was 13 years old, we moved as a family. my mother but transfer their with the bureau of indian affairs. she was an accountant.

we lived in aberdeen, s.d., and they consolidated all of the accounting in albuquerque my father had gone to boy scout camp and had fallen in love with it and was always angling to go to new mexico, so that all turned out. >> you started a company that when you sold had how many employees? >> i started it in 1974, a one- person handyman, and the common and in 1994, it hadn't 1000 police, electrical and other. one of the reasons i sold that is that we were not getting the war we should have gotten, and naively, i did not think it would be affected by my being

governor of new mexico. we did not have any public jobs of that kind, so that was not an issue, but we were not getting the jobs that we should have gotten, and looking back on it, i can understand it, but six other people, that is a lot of people that need work, and that was the responsibility i felt, even as governor, to those who had given the opportunity to go and the governor, so i sold that business in 1999. no one lost their jobs, and they are doing even better. >> you decided to run for governor. why governor of new mexico? >> i have always believed that politics was a high calling, and i believe that in order to do that, that would be something special.

the notion of doing good. many would argue that i did no good at all for new mexico. i will say that i did good for new mexico. politics for the most part entered into nine of the decision making. >> how does gary johnson make a decision? who did you consult with? what is the process? especially where you do not have a clear-cut resolution? >> if i thought the job itself was blood boiling, i would not run for office. i did not think this was a blood boiling. the first thing about being a governor of new mexico is how does this affect the new mexico citizens? as president of the united

states, the first consideration would be how is this going to positively impact citizens of the united states? and, in fact, it may not positively impact them at all. might it cost them money and not make a difference in any of their lives? that is an analysis i made all of the time as governor of new mexico, so government spending in new mexico went way down. billions of dollars of spending would have taken place but for my saying no to that spending. >> was there an issue or an agenda that you wanted to deal with that you were not able to prove >> no. -- not able to prove -- to? >> no. no sacred cows. there was going to be no political fallout for what i was doing because i had never been involved in politics before, and

the best politics will actually be to address all of the issues, a through z. people ask me, what are you most proud of having been governor of new mexico? i addressed the issue, a frizzy. it did not matter what the issue was. we took it on. >> mount kilimanjaro, mount everest. you have climbed them off. >> the highest mountains are in the himalayas. i am not going to go remotely close. probably the only now i will call recline in the himalayas with the amount of risk, but i do have the gall to climb the highest mountain on each continent. i have had the good fortune to get to the top of four of those. i am in very good physical shape. i have no doubt that i will be able to get to the top of the other three. >> so how do you do that? >> well, life is an adventure,

and in terms of the venture, i thought what a wonderful way to see the planet, to go and climb the highest mountain on each. >> preparing for the climb, what do you have to do to get ready? >> nothing. i have been lifelong the physically fit. that has been something that i set for myself as a criteria to live from day to day, that i would be as fit as i possibly could be, and as a 58 year-old sitting before you right now, you would be hard-pressed, there are those who are more fit, but you'd be hard-pressed to find someone more fit. there are those who are, but i have dedicated my light to this, fitness, good health, and, of course, i think that equates to

all other aspects of life. >> with a triathlon, running, biking, swimming, how much of it is physical and mental? >> now, as a 58-year-old, it is amazing how much strength you have as a 58-year-old and how much muscle memory there is to go out and do what i think are some pretty darn interest related activities and not be all of that affected. >> what do you enjoy most in terms of physical activity? >> my main passion is skiing. i live away from taos. outside of that, cycling, and i still do mountain biking competitions, something that i really enjoy. >> -- going out on a-our bicycle

ride is nothing uncommon. >> the children. >> i think one of the most wonderful loving things i experienced in my life is that my son who is 20 years old quiz his well paying job in denver 1.5 years ago to come into this full-time unpaid, said this is an experience that he said he just could not miss, very, very loving. my daughter is terrific. she was valedictorian and 9000 students at university of colorado, boulder, and the story i would like to tell is that my data -- my daughter was driving outside. ? per tools were with her, and she knew it was alternator, so she hitched back and got a new

alternator and then went back and installed it herself. >> pretty impressive. let me ask you about your wife, your first wife, who passed away in 2005. kibler that affect you as a husband and your ticket -- and a father? >> one of the things about being governor is we grew apart, and i think being in public office have a lot if not everything to do with that, but we grew apart, and we divorced when i left office, and soon after, she died from heart failure, and that was the worst thing that has happened to me in my life. >> what impact has she had in your life? >> she was extremely loving. she cared about me and my kids, and we are living the legacy,

what she has left with meat is everything. she has left me with everything. craigslist of politics. your in the single digits. the debate on cnn, you are not part of. why? >> i am surprised that i am not in the debates. really, i am shocked. i did not think that i would be excluded from any debates. i did not call out from under a rock to run for president of the united states, as we have discussed. a two-term governor of new mexico, i am going to argue, very successful in that role, and i think i have a resume, talking about being an entrepreneur, my family, my life, that i think i am qualified to do this job. i think i am qualified to do this job and i could do a good job. being excluded from the debates,

i am a believer in the system. i have always believed in the system. to me, if there is a crack in the door, then by my hard work and innovation, i can make the most out of that crack in the door, but this is a locked door. i am not going to be in these debates on monday, and it is upsetting. it is not fair. >> so what is your strategy, moving beyond a single debate in new hampshire, how you get the nomination, and who is your biggest competitor? >> the strategy is to do well in new hampshire and in these early primary states, particularly new hampshire, where it is a retail politics state. people in new hampshire -- it is a terrific political environment in new hampshire. it is terrific. the joke is, what do you think

about mitt romney? i have met him a couple of times, i am having him over for dinner on thursday night, but i am going to stay undecided until i meet all the candidates. that is the environment and it is a terrific environment. it is about getting out and meeting and talking with as many groups and individuals as you can. i have been to new hampshire 10 times. my second home will be new hampshire, believing that you can go from obscurity to prominence overnight with a good showing there. >> so campaigning for any job is essentially a job interview for the american people or constituents of of state or congressional districts. what is your pitch? >> that i am an entrepreneur and i have been very successful as governor of new mexico. look at my resume, hear what i have to say, and now we are

talking about issues of the day, and make a determination if i am going to actually fulfill what it is i am saying that i am going to do. based on my resume, you can take that to the bank, that i would actually do what i say i am going to do. >> as you go in through this process, have you learned anything about yourself or about the american people or about this country? >> that we are an optimistic country. i think we can tackle these issues. what have i learned about myself? just a continuation of this notion. i really believe that life is a journey, it is not a destination. if you make life-and-death -- a destination, you are bound to be disappointed. in this journey of running for president of the united states, i enjoy every single minute of

every single day. it is blood boiling, if you will. if it were about winning the office, that is something i cannot control. what i can control is how much work put into giving out the message that i am delivering, and let people make that decision. that is now the journey, and it is not the destination. when i went to mount everest, it was not getting to the top, because there are so many factors that come into play, getting to the top. if it was about just getting to the top, i was bound to be disappointed. it was about the journey and the fact that i put myself in a position to be there with my physical conditioning, with what i had done to get myself to be there at that time. this is a continuation of life's journey. what is live, and shouldn't we

all try to make the most out of the lives we have been given? cracks along that journey, you almost died six or seven years ago. >> i had a very serious peril gliding accident five years ago, and i was told that my legs would not be the same after that accident. i really, really hurt myself, and i believe that i have fully recovered. it took about three years to recover from that. >> as you look back in american history, are their role models or presidents that gary johnson looks up to that you want to emulate in terms of american politics or public policy? >> i think you could call him a political figure, but milton friedman really just had some terrific ideas, and i think that politically, maybe more politicians that would emulate

his thought, and i speak now about school choice, drug reform, drug policy, taxes, spending. i just have found him to be that role model. >> governor gary johnson, we thank you for your time. >> is it done? wow. thank you very much. >> our "road to the white house " coverage continues with former senator rick santorum. he cited president obama's health care plan as one of the reasons for him to run. standing in front of the somerset county courthouse in pennsylvania, this is about 40 minutes.

[applause] ♪ [cheers and applause] ♪

>> thank you, everyone. that was so encouraging. good morning, pennsylvania, and good morning, somerset county. it is wonderful to have you here with us today, a special place for our family. we are surrounded by the greatest blessings in our lives, our seven wonderful children. [applause]

elizabeth, john, daniel, sarah malia, peter -- where is peter? patrick, and isabella. we just celebrated our 21st wedding anniversary. [applause] thanks to the love and support an example of my precious mom and dad, who are here with us today, who we just love like crazy. [applause] my mom and dad have been married for 64 years. 65 years. that have been such a great example to us. i come before you today to introduce the man i love and admire. he is a man of enormous

strength with a tremendous commitment in the values that have made america great and the experience to lead it forward. he has led the way in the fight on so many critically important issues from into ottoman reform to tax policy to national security to foreign policy to the protection of the most innocent and vulnerable among us. never walking away are hiding from the tough battle than hard issues. peggy noonan summed up his character in "the wall street journal." she said he faces what the public tries to finesse. [applause] he is a man of deep and abiding conviction, with the wisdom to apply them to the issues at hand and the tenacity, passion, and skill to win the day.

it is a man who loves america and love the americans. that is what motivates him and all of the santorums. i present to you my husband, rick santorum. thank you so much. [cheers and applause] >> thank you. thank you very much. let me just first kasay to my wife, karen, and to the children behind me. i am one blessed man. thank you. they have not an ally of being involved in public life.

as we all know, that is not an easy life, and they have stood behind me every step of the way. not only have they stood behind me but that have led me and encouraged me and fought side- by-side with me. they get so much for your love and support. god bless you. thank you. i want to thank all of you for coming out here today. it is a beautiful day. it is always beautiful in somerset county. you must think i am not from somerset county if i said that. let me just thank everybody here in the local community for the great cooperation and support and being here and showing up, and for being where it all started for the santorum family. that is why we are here because our american journey started here in somerset county.

it is great to be here. thank you for coming out for us. [applause] the most common question i have had over the past 20 months was, are you running? the answer i always gave, no, i am not running, i am walking. the reason i was walking is because i wanted to get out and talk to americans all across america. dozens and dozens of states over the last couple of years with a heavy sampling on iowa, new hampshire, and south carolina. i was out talking to people, listening to people, trying to get a sense as to whether what i was feeling inside, the anxiety and the concern i had for the future of our country, was something that was shared.

the answer to that was what happened zero little over two years ago, with the birth of the tea party, and people standing up and holding up the constitution and talking about -- those or balloons in that shot. not that i have not had my shots. people have understood, they understand that something is wrong, there is something at stake here in america that is important. it is important for us and for the future of our country. what is it? is it the economy? sure, it is the economy. who can say is not the economy when we are looking at this but that rate of growth and the discouragingly high rate of unemployment. not 9.1%, but 15% of people who really want to get work and cannot find work.

you can look at this administration and say what did they do in response? they just send money to state capitals to keep the government workers on the payroll and forgot about the rest of america out here trying to survive and grow. gas prices. we are here in mineral which somerset county. we have: gas and all sorts of resources here and we have a president who does not want us to access those resources, and then complains that the price of energy is high. [applause] if you look at the record of spending under this president, he came in with a problem, and

then he kept digging in the hole he was then. now for every dollar we spend, 40 cents is borrowed. 40 cents they can be put on every man, woman, and child to pay the interest on for the rest of their lives. who are we, who are you, mr. president, to say that you and your administration should take 40 cents out of every dollar and borrow it from future generations to prop you up? it is a horrible penalty on working and saving americans. he has devalue our currency and

devalued our culture. through not standing up for the defense of marriage act. federal funding of abortions. he is the value and our dollars and our other currency, our moral currency. all of this is bad enough, but i think americans now realize there is even more. there is something more that is concerning america. that is why i am here in somerset county. i am here because my grandfather came to this county way back in 1927. did he come here because the government was promising him all sorts of benefits? promising him all sorts of handouts and bailouts?

no, he left the country where the government made all the promises. he had a job on a mail train after world war i. he lived in a beautiful idyllic town in the mountains, right down on olague. i have visited, and is truly gorgeous. i said why would anyone want leave eight brothers and sisters, leave a stable job at a beautiful place at the foot of the dolomite mountains? one word, one reason, freedom. [applause] he was watching what mussolini was doing. he was watching what he was inculcating into his oldest son.

and he said, i will not stand for this, and so he left and he came here. it took a trip to detroit, but eventually came here and started in the coal mines in northern somerset county. in carpenter's part pennsylvania. and he worked to give his children, my dad who was 7 years old when he came in 1930, the opportunity for freedom, to live your dreams, because he knew that america believed in him, believe in people, gave people a shot. if they work hard, they could succeed. that is the america that my grandfather came to. that is the america that my dad live then. that is the america that we need again today.

[applause] that is what is unique. the president of the united states just a few weeks ago in responding to polarize budget said this. -- responding to paul ryan's budget. he was talking about medicare and medicaid and unemployment insurance. he said the country is a better country with those programs. i will go one step further, he said. america is not a great big america was not a great country until those programs. ladies and gentlemen, america was a great country before 1965. america was a great country before government decided that it had to start taking from

those -- i am sorry, we have someone who i think he has got to them. -- the heat has gotten to them. if there are any emergency personnel who can get here, i want to make sure that this person get some help. >> get some water. >> maybe get a chair. [applause]

[inaudible] >> i would appreciate if everyone would just say a prayer for that young lady. america is a great country. not because of our government. it is because our founders founded a great country. [applause] i love our tea partiers who

raise our constitution up. that constitution which is the owner's manual for america. but in the constitution that they hold up is also another document that is always printed there. it is the declaration of independence. the declaration of independence is the why of america. it is who we are. we hear a lot of talk about american exceptional as some -- exceptionalism. all men are created equal and endowed by our creator with certain inalienable rights. life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. [applause]

our founders did something revolutionary with that statement. prior to that time, where they came from, rights did not come from god to every individual. that is not with those countries believed. rights came to the sovereign, to the king, to the government, and then the government would distribute the rights. they left those countries because they did not want a keen to tell them what rights they had, because they knew what rights they had from god. [applause] in the constitution they established the framework to do one thing, to some of the mission of america, what transformed the world, what made this the greatest country

in the history of the world. the principal purpose of america was to make sure that each and every person was free. that is the purpose of america. ladies and gentlemen, that is at stake now, more than it has ever been in modern times. we are facing a time when we have a group of people led by president obama who believes that america's greatness is in government, not its people. there is one singular act that is the linchpin, and that is obamacare. obamacare does something that

no other entitlement has ever done. it makes you buy something. more importantly, it is the government for the first time is going to have its clutches to create dependency on every single american. not those who are old or sick, but every single american now will be hooked to the government with an i.v. they will say if you want that health care, did you have to give us more power. margaret thatcher said this after doing her -- an assessment of her time against ronald reagan. she said there was one thing that stood in my way, the british national health care system. why do you think they work so hard?

what it is think they are willing to break every rule. what you think they are ready to lose this election. what you think they ignore the polls and jam it down the throats of the american public? why do you think they cared so much about passing this bill? power. because they knew they would get you. juan williams said to me, let me tell you what president obama's team is telling me. americans love entitlements. once we get them hooked, they will never let it go. they want to look you. they don't want to free you. they don't want to give you opportunity. they believe in themselves, the smart people, the planners, the folks in washington who made

decisions better than you can. they are saying to seniors, we need you to trust us. we will make decisions on what every senior can have. did everybody -- did anybody ever look at the medicare prescription drug plan? it is exactly the model paul ryan is asking for. seniors love the medicare prescription drug plan. it is exactly what we are proposing for medicare. give people the resources to go out and choose for themselves what is best for themselves. [applause] our founders knew that establishing freedom, writing it in that document, was the easy thing to do.

they were students of history and they do the hard thing to do was to maintain freedom over the course of time, over the course of leaders who would try to sing that siren song to give up that freedom in exchange for security. that is another reason i am here in somerset county at this time. i am here because just a few miles from here in pennsylvania, almost 10 years now, a group of average americans, a traveling salesman stood with his back against the wall and rallied and lead people, average americans, to do what needed to be done to save freedom in america. [applause]

on this day, june 6, 1944, almost 60,000 average americans have the courage -- had the courage to drop out of airplanes who knows where it and take on the battle for freedom. average americans, the very americans that our government and this president does not trust to make a decision on your health care plan. those americans risked everything so they could make that decision on their health care plan. [applause]

we are facing enormous challenges today of a different kind, but they will test whether this generation will keep pace with those patriots and keep america the greatest country in the history of the world. today across america, people are looking for a leader who is optimistic and believe that we must meet those challenges and can meet those challenges, that we can keep the faith with three people. -- free people. [applause] in 2008, a wearied public, a troubled public from the financial crisis looked to a president -- looked to elect a president they could believe in.

the president, president obama took the faith the american people gave him and wrecked our economy and centralized power in washington d.c. and robbed people of their freedom. [applause] i believe now that americans are not looking for someone they can believe in. they are looking for a president that believes in them. [cheers and applause] fellow americans, it is our watch. it is our time. it is our time for all of us to step up and do what america

requires us to do. i am ready to lead. i am ready. [applause] i am ready to do what has to be done for the next generation with the courage to fight for freedom, with the courage to fight for america. that is why i am announcing today that i am running for president. [cheers and applause] join the fight! [cheers and applause] ♪

♪ [cheers and applause] ♪ run, rick, run! ♪

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♪ ♪

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♪ ♪ >> thank you, god bless you. ♪

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>> from today's "washington

journal,", an update on the anthony weiner story. now with jonathan alter of "politico" who wrote an article this weekend entitled "abandoned, that financed weiner seeks treatment, house leave." jonathan allen is with us now. tallis, what is the latest with the situation regarding congressman weiner? guest: there was a flurry of news yesterday. his democratic party leaders tried to get him to resign privately. house minority leader nancy pelosi and representative steve israel had called anthony weiner yesterday, both urging him to resign. he said he would not do so. within a few minutes of each

other, that two of them put out statements calling on him to resign as did the democratic national committee chairwoman, debbie wasserman schultz. within an hour of that, there were another set of people who called on him to resign. weiner said that he would not resign, but rather seek a leave of absence from the house while he sought treatment for whatever is causing this sex scandal he has been involved in. host: all of these calls for him to resign come from the house side. but you write in your article that chuck schumer, the no. 3 democrat in the senate, and kirsten gillibrand both approved of his decision to seek for treatment. what is the significance of that? guest: a couple of things to work there. chuck schumer has been very close to anthony weiner. weiner used to work for him.

children take syracuses the junior senator from chuck schumer. -- gillibrand take her cues as the junior senator from chuck schumer. the sex scandal did not involve actual sex, as far as we know. it also did not involve any public malfeasance, as far as we know, or abuse of office in terms of taxpayer funds or anything illegal that we know of. and his constituents are the constituents of the two new york senators. one of them came out with a lifeline.

clyburn said that the democratic caucus should have a chance to meet on this before everyone passes judgment. host: you also write, there is nothing in the house rules or ethics manual that prevents weiner from taking time off to get treatment, even if the leadership wants to see him step down. but they could take action against him and other ways. they could move to expel him from the house democratic caucus or could strip his committee assignments. this was done against james traficant of ohio following his conviction on truck -- corruption but before he was expelled from congress in 2002. if the democratic leaders and to expel him from the democratic caucus, what would be his purpose? how could he continue to serve the members of the constituents in his district? guest: it would still be able the vote. they could not strip him of his ability to vote.

the idea that he would be kicked out of the democratic caucus is such a strong concept. the last person was jim traficant, convicted of serious corruption and and didn't anthony weiner's case, he has not even been charged with a crime. this is a feeding frenzy going on around him because of the nature of what is going on and their revulsion with them, that is the only thing that could explain the idea that they could read -- that they want to get rid of the scandal because it is unpalatable. but what anthony weiner has done it is not something that he has been charged with anything, not corruption. if they kicked him out of that caucus, that would be setting quite a precedent for

themselves about getting members -- writ of members of congress or punishing them. that would probably be a bad few others that would be kicked out. host: the state of new york is scheduled to lose two seats in congress because of redistricting from the latest census. tell us what the machinations are as far as this process and were rather representative weiner's district is in the cross hairs because of this controversy he is involved in? guest: there is talk that if he does not leave on his own, his district would be a target in redistricting, to be one of the two seats that eventually get added to other districts that exists. that was already under discussion. it was already possible that his

district would be one that went away. if that happens, he might be able to run in a primary with one of his colleagues. it sounds like new yorkers are not calling for him -- the majority of them think he should not resign. if i was a member of the new york delegation, i am not sure i would want a primary from anthony weiner, who if nothing else has shown himself to be a very energetic campaigner over the years. also able to raise a lot of money from progressives after being a star on television, and ironically, twitter. host: jonathan allen, the house is coming back from a break. what you expect to see in terms of concrete action from leadership as they deal with this controversy? guest: speaker boehner has been silent on this.

it is possible that the ethics committee might launch an investigation. if congressman weiner takes a leave of action, -- of absence, democrats could hope that there would be less pressure on this. a couple of things are working. republicans are watching the democrats stumble without getting in their way. number two, it allows for the contrast as republicans try to shift into a summer jobs agenda, to be able to talk about serious issues while democrats are talking about the foibles of one of the rhone members. -- of one of their own members. they are increasingly talking about jobs. many bills are old ideas but

they will concentrate on sending the message that they care about jobs. host: finally, if congressman weiner should decide to resign before the end of his current term, what is the process for putting someone in there to replace him? guest: there is a special election process, generally speaking. there have been a bunch of special elections over the last three years, but i have not seen what the time window is for that. there should be a special election to replace him. the two parties of very familiar with running special elections in new york. there have been a large series of them over the last four or five years. host: jonathan allen has been on the phone with us from "politico."

you can read his >> on monday, a look at the 30- year epidemic of hiv/aids and current treatment with dr. fauci. then, peter pantuso discusses tour bus safety standards. after that, the presidential historian talks about the significance of the so-called pentagon papers on the 40th anniversary of their being leaked to the "new york times." as always, your phone calls and questions starting live at 7:00 a.m. eastern on monday's "washington journal."

the senate gavels in at 2:00 p.m. they will vote on district court nominations in new jersey. they will begin work on economic development administration bills with a procedural vote scheduled at 2:15 eastern on an amendment to repeal several of them all-related tax provisions. follow the senate live on c- span2. the house also returns on monday. they are expected to resume work on 2012 spending for military construction and the veterans affairs department. there will be amendment debate and final passage vote for possible early next week. you can watch the house live on c-span. tonight, the senior justice correspondent for abc news. then on