in fact, i have two dreams. the first dream that i have is that in november 2012, conservative republicans are going to take back the house and the senate. [applause] i have a dream. i had another dream for 2012. that dream is you are looking at the next president of the united states of america. [applause] look at me. some of you all have heard me tell the story about the bumblebee and how the bumblebee

is not supposed to fly because aerodynamically its body is too fat, its wings are too thin. he cannot clap them fast enough. the bumble bee flies because the bumblebee did not get the memo that he is not supposed to fly. [laughter] ever since i formally announced my run for the presidency of this great country, there have been some people who have said that herman cain should not run. respect,illy, whom i said that herman cain does not have a chance. [booing] do not get crazy, y'all.

[laughter] karl rove, who did a great job for president bush, does not take my presidency seriously. one of my favorites disappointed me when he did not take my candidacy seriously. mr. charles crowd hammer. well, to mr. a riley, to mr. rove, i did not get the memo that i was not supposed to run. [applause] i am running. i am running. and the reason that i am running is because this nation has become a nation of crises. we have a moral crisis, we have an economic crisis, we have an entitlement-spending crisis, we

have an energy crisis, we have an immigration crisis, and most of all, we have a deficiency of leadership crisis in the white house and we ought to change it. [applause] i did not get the memo. one of the reasons that i have been inspired to answer this call has been because the american people that i have talked to and the ones that i have listened to are tired of this national nightmare we are on right now. this economy is not growing. we have a lot of problems. i do not have time to go through all the things that i would do, so let's talk about one of the biggest crises that we have -- the economy.

one of the first things i would do as president would be to ask the united states congress to give me a bill that would contain the following elements in order to boost this economy. number one, a maximum 25% tax by all corporations and all individuals. maximum 25%. [applause] we are the only nation on the planet that does not give tax -- lowered the corporation tax breaks. and we wonder what jobs are leaving this country. number two, take the capital gains tax rate to zero. [applause] do not shaved it. do not trim it back. take it to zero. because we need to release some

equity for small businesses and new businesses in this country. taking the capital gains rate to zero would be a way to do that. thirdly, suspend taxes on foreign for appreciated profits. let that money come back home instead of staying overseas because they do not want to be overtaxed. [applause] number four, provide a real payroll tax holiday for every worker in america and every business in america by allowing a full holiday of the full 6.2% for employees and employers for a year. number five, and this is the most important one, except for the payroll tax holiday, all the other tax reductions i talked about, make them permanent. uncertainty is killing this economy. [applause]

make them permanent. i have talked and listened to many businesses to have their growth plans on hold. they do not know what the tax rates are going to be in 2013. they do not know the full impact of obamacare. they do not know the full impact of the dodd-frank legislation. they do not know what the outcome will be for all the conflicts we are involved in or around the country because of a funky foreign-policy position. people have gone from feeling concerned about the future of america to being fearful for the future of america. when we put the right person in the white house, moi, american exceptionalism will be obvious again. [applause]

i am near the french quarter, right? the get the " moi?" [laughter] americans are tired of feeling as if the president is apologizing around the world. i will never apologize for the greatness of america. [applause] many of you know my background. i was not born with a silver spoon in my mouth. we did not even have a spoon to put in my mouth. [laughter] my dad walk all the farm at the age of 18. my mother did the same thing -- a different farm. they went to atlanta to raise my brother and i.

never see yourself as a victim. [applause] never. with those principles, i have been able to achieve my american dream and beyond. i want to thank all of you because a year ago when i spoke at this conference, i challenge you to stay informed, involved, and inspired, and you did. look how we are coming along. the job is not over yet, but stay informed, stay involved, and state inspired. because the liberals do not want us to believe we can do this. they do not want us to believe the people are going to elect

the next president of the united states, not the media. [applause] the people are going to elect the next president of the united states. we are winning because we are more informed and more involved, more inspired, because we can feel it happening -- the spirit of america that i talked about. we will make it happen because of that spirit of america, because people come up to me all the time and say, "i have never been to a political event before in my life." i would say, "why are you here? they would say, "because i am tired of sitting on the sofa and complaining.

i heard about your common-sense solutions and i want to do here up close and personal." i asked, "did i change your mind?" they say, "you not only changed my mind, but you're the first candidate to run for anything i had made a contribution for." i did a lot of mind training, didn't i? people are sick and tired of being sick and tired of problems not being solved in washington, d.c. they are sick and tired of kicking the can down the road. we know how to solve these issues. we have solutions. all we need is the leadership and the will of the american people. when i tell people that i want to do that five-point plan for the first bill i want congress to get me, i tell them i want to take social security and i want to introduce the country,

again, to the concept of an optional personal retirement accounts so we can fix social security. [applause] when i tell them that in order to get the price of gasoline lower, we have got to stop being dependent upon foreign oil. we have enough resources to become energy independent. let me tell you what the obama doctrine was in brazil. he said america was going to become brazil's's best customer. let me tell you what the cain doctrine will be -- america will be its own best customer. drill here. utilize the resources that we have. [applause] we must end this dependency on foreign oil. we have to end this dependency

on foreign oil. one of the things that the media and others like to beat me up about as a candidate -- remember, i am not supposed to be running, but i did not get the memo -- they say i have no foreign-policy experience. well, you are right. i do not have any foreign- policy experience. but as my dad would say -- a man i would say had a ph.d. in common sense -- they would say you do not have to have any foreign-policy experience to know your friends and your enemies. [applause] that is where foreign policy starts. know who your friends are. know who your enemies are.

i do not have the info to know if pakistan is our friend or not. it raises a lot of questions. but i can tell you about one friend we have in that part of the world, it is a country called israel. [applause] let me tell you what the cain doctrine is. as my dad said, knew who your friends are, a note to your enemies are. it is real simple. i will make it so that the rest of the world hears it when i become president. you mess with israel, you are messing with the united states of america. they are our friend. [applause]

our friend. that is where foreign-policy starts. that is where foreign-policy starts. you do not have to be a rocket scientist to figure that you stand beside your friend and you keep an eye on your enemy. so, as i continue this journey -- and when i talk about these common-sense solutions, some of the people that did not get the memo that i am running still like to say, "well, that is an awful lot of stuff to try to get done in washington, d.c.

you do not know how washington, d.c. works." i said, "i do. it does not work. that is why i am running." [applause] the american people are not going to send me to the white house to learn how washington works. you will be sending me there to change washington, d.c. from the way it does not work. [applause] i encourage you to continue on this journey because we can do this. because of your encouragement and the encouragement of people around this great nation, i made the decision to try and take my talents and my experiences to the white house because it is not about us, folks, it is about the children

and grandchildren. i have three grandchildren. they remind me why i am doing this and why you are doing what you can do. not everybody needs to do the same thing. the words to the closing song of the olympics said, "life can be a challenge. lichens seem impossible. it is never easy when there is so much on the line, but you can make a difference. there is a mission just for you and me and you -- just look inside and you will find just what you can do."

when all of us look inside and ask ourselves what we can do and we all collectively bring our energies together in the greatness that built this nation, the same spirit that this nation to some of its toughest times, we will be able to get this nation off of the wrong track and back on the right track. you see, the founding fathers, they did their job. when they concede those principles of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness in the declaration of independence, which inspired the constitution. but they were also wise enough and had enough foresight that when they got to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, they did not stop right there, they kept writing. we need to keep reading because

when it says "when any form of government becomes destructive of those ideals, it is the right of the people to alter or abolish it." we have some altering and abolishing to do in this national nightmare -- altering and abolishing to do. end this national nightmare. [applause] abolish and alter. fathers did their job, we have got to be the defending fathers. we have to defend the future for our children and grandchildren against more runaway spending, against more ill-conceived legislation.

at the end of the day when you look at our lives and why we are here on this planet, there is a sense of urgency for us to take this nation back because when you look at this life that we have been blessed with -- as dr. mays also reminded the young men at morehouse about this game called life -- life is just a minute, only 60 seconds in it. it is forced upon you. you cannot refuse it. it is up to you to use it. you must suffer if you lose it. give an account if you abuse it. just a tiny whittle minute, but our eternity is in it.

to president obama and all of the liberals in washington, d.c., the united states of america is not going to become the united states of europe, not on our watch and not under president herman cain. [applause] thank you. >> do you remember that dark horse candidate from last year? how do you like me now? [applause]

[applause] >> thank you. thank you. thank you very much. thank you. [crowd chanting "ron paul"] thank you. i have great news for the cause of liberty, the country is

coming our way. [applause] i have always been an optimist. i have always believed the cause of liberty would win, but three or four years ago i would never have predicted that we would have made as much strides dybbuks and we have today. if there is reason for us to be encouraged and keep the fight, because that is what america is all about. the loss of the land can be found in our constitution and we demand respect for them. [applause] there are four categories i would like to mention in my opening remarks. these are where we have made strides. probably where we have missed the least amount of strides is in our civil liberties. the american people are sick and tired of losing their privacy and being prodded by the tsa at airports.

another area where we have made a lot more strides, and you can see it in the recent debates as well as the recent votes in congress, they are coming our way because the american people are sick and tired of the analysts no-win wars and around the world. [applause] there can be no doubt that there is too much spending, too much debt, too much borrowing, and it is time to stop the spending. [applause]

how did you know that was my fourth item? i do not know how you knew it. this is wonderful. this is where we may have made our greatest strides, for the american people to realize you can not print money in secrecy by the federal reserve and pretend it is a creation of wealth. we have gotten the attention of the people dealing with our monetary system. it is time we not only on that the federal reserve, but also get rid of the federal reserve in due time. [applause] a few years ago it was very evident there was a financial

bubble, especially the housing bubble. the bursting of the bubble was on our doorstep. the free-market economist predicted it and it did arrive. this has given a lot of credibility to the views of us who look at the federal reserve as the culprit in creating the financial bubble. when the bailout came, congress intervened, of course, and spent nearly $1 trillion bailing out the people who were making a lot of money that we're bankrupting the reserves. they should not have been bailed out. [applause] what a lot of people did not know and a few have difficulty understanding, it was a much bigger bailout by the federal reserve.

they created about $5 trillion out of thin air and then they bailed out the banks and big corporations in total secrecy. guess what? all of those derivatives and assets that were worthless that nobody could sell on the marketplace -- guess what? we, the taxpayers, but those with money printed out of thin air to the tune of about $2 trillion. the federal reserve during that time -- and the reason we have to address this subject they can create and spend more money than the entire congress. curtailing congress is one thing, but if the people in the congress do not curtail the federal reserve, you will not touch the problem. that is why it is so important. [applause] we have had some hearings. my subcommittee on the financial services -- we have got more information than ever

before. we have found out that all those trillions of dollars created by the fed -- guess what? one-third of those funds went to foreign banks. it makes no sense. we find out that some of those funds actually went to banks partially owned by gaddafi. yet that makes any sense, i do not understand it, but i think the people, once they know about this, will be outraged and are outraged with what has been going on with our monetary system. but today we are facing another crisis. the next crisis is a result of the veterans are creating all this money. that will be the inflation tax. when they create money they

inflate the currency. prices will rise. that is a tax. that will come. it has started and it will be much worse next year. it will be a big issue in next year pottery campaign. some of you might remember the stagflation of the '70s. it will be worse because the economy is weaker now than it was. for us and for the sake of america, we have to deal with this problem. i have said many times we have to do something. we cannot dump this on our children and our grandchildren. i address it slightly differently now because it is the current generation -- it is us today who are suffering. we do not have jobs.

we are getting hit with inflation. we are suffering from the overextension of the wars around the world. it is today -- we are suffering from this and, therefore, not only should we worry about the next generation, but we have to worry about today's generation. the most precious thing we can do for our next generation -- the debt is a concern, but the most valuable thing we can give the next generation and allow this generation to have is to have our freedoms back. [applause] i have talked a lot about foreign policy for a good many years. it is very important. the foreign policy originally of the republican party of nine intervention, a battle of neutrality, minding our own business. what the founders taught and what the constitution says -- do not get involved in entangling alliances or internal

affairs of other nations. do not get into the business of nation-building. besides, we do not have the money. if somebody is interested in looking at this in detail, one of the most significant pieces of writing about this subject came from ronald reagan. everybody knows how he stood out in standing up to the soviets. but in the early '80s, reagan put some troops into beirut. 241 marines were killed. it was a real tragedy. it bore heavy on ronald reagan. read what he said in his memoirs. what he said was, "i would not turn tail and run." .

>> how long are we going to allow our presidents go to war in an improper manner? we have not decliered war since world war ii and we haven't won a war since 1992. if we have to go to war, debate the issue. declare the war, win it and get it over with. it over with. [applause]

it's up to us. it's up to the congress. it's up to us to dpt a president that won't go to war so carelessly. flu

people will ask us, what would be the first thing you would do. there's always a limit. everyone nose my place on monetary policy. he might legalize the constituti constitution. but the president has a lot to do with foreign policy. he's in charge of the troops. he's in charge of the navy. i'll bet there's not tomb in this roam that read a resent story this week of where our navy just went. up into the black sea up against russia. russia is annoyed. what would we say if china came

up into the gulf of mexico noer the shores of us. i know what texas ans would say and people in louisiana would say. we don't need you here. always put it in light of sort of a foreign policy golden rule. what would we think if people did that to us? what would we think. many reasons have been given of why people hate us an want to come here to kill us. they tell us the truth. bin laden told us the truth. they cannot stand occupation and control of their land as we

would not either. [applause] bin laden had a plan. he was going to get us very angry and drag us no a war. he wrote this, i'm going to drag the americans into a war. he said the soviets had no right to occupy afghanistan. he would get rid of the soviets. bin laden said we are going to drag them into the war. he says you know what, we'll drive them into a bankruptcy. this is serious stuff. we are bankrupt and bogged down. we are in five wars. remember, you have to remember what was said many years ago

about war. war is the health of the state. the state is the enemy of liberty, the bigger the government, the less liberty you have. war is the health of the state. we have endless war. they are going on. all great nations have ended not because of military con frontations. we let themself sdrukt. they spent too much and got bogged down. it's time for us to give up the being bogs down in so many countries in the world. [applause] we are now in over 130 countries. we have military bases over 900. we are not going to be leaving iraq, we are not going to be

leaving afghanistan or pakistan. we are building presence in all these countries. in iraq, our presence is bigger than at the vatican. we are going to argue the case hit the scenes, we have to protect our oil. what are our enemies doing? vietnam as well as china. china has become -- the manufacturer of the world selling us goods. we borrow money. we are the greatest debtor in the world and the chinese have 3 trillion in the bank. are they going around invading the country. no. they are making money and buying up oil interest.

they are making deals. our foreign policy has driven so many countries into the hands of the chinese. it has gotten to be india, russia and iran. iraq is turned over to the shiites. our policies have totally backfired on us. we need to change the foreign policy. we need a pro-american foreign policy. [applause] here at home, we are stedly losing our liberties. we don't own our own property.

we can't use our own property unless we pay our taxes and file regulations. from the un coming down on us and telling us what we can do with our land. it's a good reason to support our bill that would get us out. good intentions always get out of control. who is against safe food? do we need the fda? what the fda is doing and why they feel so compelled to protect you. they will arrest you if you happen to drink raw milk. i think we ought to vote for the

right to drink raw milk. the other good intention is that people not use drugs illegally. there's a lot of stupid us of precipitation drugs. up until 1937, smoking marijuana was legal. it was still stupid. it was legal. all of a sudden, we decided to outlaw it. more people smoke it now than ever before. some states have legalized the use of marijuana for medical reasons. how compassion? shouldn't people be allowed to

make that choice. as a physician, i can tell you there have been people dying of cancer, can't keep their food down and they get benefit. we shouldn't be afraid of people making their own choices. let's disregard that for a moment. because marijuana is illegal. because the plant looks a little bit like hemp, we are not allowed to raise it in this country. if you want to get high on hemp, you have to smoke a cigarette as big as a phone pole. hemp is a fantastic product. it bets better ethinol than

corn, it makes clothes. it was very helpful in world war ii. so many of these jobs now was take tone canada. they make these products and sell them back to us. i would say legalize hemp as well. because of the overburden of laws in this country, we have more prisoners than anywhere in the world. 1% of our population is in prison. 5% of the population but 25% of all the wrld prisoners. i don't think the american people are that bad. i don't think we need that many

prisons. i think we have too many laws is what the problems are. today, that is what people mostly concentrate on. we can't separate that from the foreign policy. they expect next year, we might likely have a depression. those people who have been unemployed already have that doe precious. we have been in a slump for 10 years since the nasdaq bubble burst. our population has grown by 30 million people but we have not added any new net jobs. we are slipping and sliding. it's always been method rated by

more handouts and entitlements. it looks like we'll be doing that for a long time but it ends up in bankruptcy. what are we going to do? we have pretty good history. our debt, greece's debt, everybody's debt, when it gets to a certain percentage, it gets liquidated. usually the debt is liquidated by the government printing money and you get 50 cents on a dollar or 25 cents on a dollar. that's what is happening today. the economy has not picked up in the last few years. we got into trouble because we believed we could spend.

we spept too much,boroed too much. we got into predictable trouble. we are regulating more, spending more. the federal reserve has unlimited amounts flowing into the system. they think that will solve the problem. that will not solve the problem, let me tell you. we need to restore the confidence and believe in a free society. we are supposed to believe in the free enterprise system. we have to get the government out of the business of regulating us. we have a federal reserve. i have my way. they quit printing up money. it's only helping the rich at the expense of the poor.

i would stop that. where would the money come from. the money would come from savings. yes, if we change our tax code. we shouldn't be taxing savings. we shouldn't be taxing the elderly that are saving money. we should not under current conditions today because the feds said the interest rates for the benefit of the banks get money for free and made all their billions back. if you are elderly and retired, you get 1-2% on your cd where your markets are 6 or 7%. it's criminal. it's really bad. we should not tax savings or dividends. over $1 trillion worth of capital is sitting overseas.

companies are global. they pay other taxes which are lower. you want to repay that money, they don't pay that again. all that money sitting overseas won't bring it home because they have to pay taxes on it. i say let's quit retaxing and let them bring their capitol home. [applause] corporate tax is a sales tax. they need that. corporate tax rates should be as

low as possible. the regulatory burden should be lifted from their shoulders. if i would be the president of the united states, my goal would be to freeze the federal register and start shrinking it. no new legislation. when did we as a country say the executive branch has a right to write law? they don't. the courts don't have a right to write laws. those laws actual be repealed to the best of our effort.

>> when we allow courts to write laws, you get bad decisions like roe v. wade. i would repeal roe v. wade if at all possible. let me close talking about what a free society should be all about. when i talk about people being allowed to make choices. they might mike a wrong choice. that's scary. what happens when government makes wrong choices. the government steps in and starts telling us what to do

like education. the thing when you are challenged on this. you should think about the first amendment. hardly anybody argues with me or anybody else about first amendment. it legalized freedom of thought. even communist teachers are allowed. we don't have a first amendment so we can talk about the weather. it's to legalize freedom of speech but nobody forever says if you support legalizing freedom of speech, you endorse the speech that they use. you endorse the principal they have a right to say it.

it's your life and your liberty that comes to you from your god, not from your government. where is the responsibility on good behavior? it is individual. with the parents, the family, the church. government has not been a very good source of good values. freedom is something america has been well-known for. i would say in the last several decades, they lost their way. they will protect us. especially since 9/11. i don't buy that. i don't think you have to

sacrifice any liberty. different values because it is none confrontation al. government shouldn't force it on you as well. it is not a authoritarians. whether personal or economic habits. it is fair and equal if somebody comes along. the free society we have

forgotten about is the most productive society. which means we are less free. the ideas are new. we have had the greatest expirement in the laws of history 95% of growth and well being. we are about to give up because we have lost our convictions because of how it works. every one of us is unique. we don't get our rights because we belong to a group but because we claim rights but not groups

releasing the creative energy you don't have tremendous growth we are less productive. the free society allows kree tiffity. her responsibility. the focus should be to strief for excellence. there will be many on both ends of the inspect rum saying government should do that too.

when government tries, they cannot do it without undermining your liberties individual liesing the value without the responsibility being assumed, it doesn't assume. john adams warned us about that. if you do not assume these responsibilities, it won't work. we are not quite willing to assume it. sam you'll adams said you don't have to worry. what you need is an irate,

tireless minority to stir up the brush fires of freedom in the brush fires of man. this is where i can report we are making progress. there are many, many thousands brush fires going on in the country. i would like to think i contributed to it a little bit. but one thing i can tell you is that i cannot tell you i know

how many there are. everywhere i go, there are more here and here sam you'll adams had one big fight. he gave us one vice. he says no long faces. there's every reason not to have a long face. leadership starting to loose our

language. great. good to see everybody. >> c-span has launched a new easy to navigate website with the latest events from the campaign trail, twitter feeds and facebook updates. links to c-span media partners. visit us at c-span.org/campaign 2012. >> coming up, washington journal. we'll take your questions and comments.