our g.d.p. getting it back to 20% and 25% of our g.d.p. of what it was in 1960 when i was born. so it's a combination of a couple of things. one, there is a legitimate need on the part of multinational companies to service their customer base, wherever they might be and it's not that you're manufacturing in another country and sending it back here. more and more, your manufacturing in another country to service the needs of that country because you got rising g.d.p.'s, disposable incomes on the rise in many countries in the world. if you're a global company, you got to service your customer base wherever they happen to be in the world. but the second part of this, we haven't done enough to insure that we have a competitive economic foundation here in this country and that's either taxes or that's regulation, that's making a marketplace that is hospitable and conducive to manufacturing growth. we need to do a better job of

it here in america. i do believe that we have an opening. as china becomes more expensive and as labor rates increase 10 and 15% each year and as the political situation in the years to come in china becomes a little more tenuous, i think a lot of manufacturers, a lot of international businesses are going to return right here to the preferred marketplace anywhere in the world. we are the preferred marketplace. we're 25% of the world's g.d.p. we need to improve our environment for growth. taxes and regulation in order to capture what i think in the years to come is going to be a real opportunity for this country to get back in the game economically. >> you also worked for a couple of republican presidents at the white house. >> right. >> what did you learn about the job of president from your vantage point? what did you see? >> that you are in fact the leader of the free world, that the power of the bully pulpit goes well beyond our own shores and that this world is better

served by a strong america. we are the only country left in the world that can stand up and speak out on democracy and liberty and free rights. it all starts with the presidency. there is nothing more powerful than that office, then the bully pulpit and you hear it and having lived overseas, i have felt it firsthand. the influence it that is felt internationally from this country as we project our goodness and our might, which has always been, i think an influence for good internationally is unparalleled. it's set by the president. i have seen people like president reagan who maximized that bully pulpit, who stood up and spoke out about the goodness of our american traditions. he was optimistic. he was a blue sky optimist.

he would always be able to find the good in any situation. he had a very simple view of the world based on his priorities and what he wanted to get gone. he wanted to reinvigorate the economy out of the doldrums of the late 1970's. he wanted to win the cold war. he knew that he would have to engage soviet leadership in order to do it to preserve peace through strength and he wanted to promote freedom and liberty throughout the world. you always knew where he stood on the i understand of the day. he was an effective communicator. he was an effective statesman because he stood his ground. >> are you ready for the job? >> absolutely, absolutely, as ready as anyone can be. you know, you have to say that you're going to draw from private sector experience. you're going to draw from being governor. you're going to draw from your stints overseas and you kind of pull a little bit from each one of those experiences and you take what you have learned and

you put that into the job and you say, do i have as much as any candidate maybe has ever had in terms of running for the presidency? in looking at my ballgame, have i seen the world for what it is? have i been in an executive position and dealt with the legislature, dealt with difficult and thorny issues? have i been able to move an agenda along based on leadership? absolutely. i think i got what it takes. >> what type of person would you surround yourself? what type of cabinet secretaries would you look for? >> people who believe in service above everything else, people who believe that we are in a difficult and precarious moment in our nation's history, people who otherwise wouldn't think about public service but today, because of our dire circumstances and the need for good people to step up would be willing to do just that and take on a set of

responsibilities. so i would want to draw from people who in ordinary circumstances would say i would never want to serve in government. i have too much to lose if i do that. i would rather stay in private life of the i would rather stay in academic life. i would rather stay in not for profit life. i want to draw on people who have something to bring to the table, who might not be thinking about serving their country, but are the best at what they do and based on our time in history and the needs that we have would be willing to step up and serve given the circumstances. >> what do your seven kids think about this run? >> they are terribly supportive. my daughters talked me into running for governor when i never thought it was something i would do. i never contemplated a run for the governorship? >> they told you to run? >> they sat me down after i had been trade ambassador for 2 1/2 years and spent a whole lot of time overseas with trade agreements.

i covered all of south asia and all of africa. that's the part of the world that i covered as trade ambassador. as my daughters grew up, they as my daughters grew up, they sat me down at one point. they were in high school, a couple of them were and said they would like my dad back. i said what would you like your dad to do? i do what i do well. i'm serving our country and making a good contribution. they said i think you should run for governor of our state. i think you're crazy. i'll give you a weekend to sit down and think about it. we followed up and we discussed it and we looked at our state, the state we love and the state that was in need of what we uniquely could bring, which was expertise in revitalizing an economy and drawing from private sector experience and insuring that college grads didn't leave for greener pastures and investment dollars

could be attracted and entrepreneurs could stay. we mounted a campaign. i told bob saleck, the trade ambassador at the time, he is now president of the world bank, that i was going to go out and run for governor and he said i have never worked with anyone who has done anything like that. i'm going to live it vicariously through you. good luck. i left as trade ambassador. i hung up my cleats and went out and immediately started a campaign. we loaded up our family suburban and kids included and we went town to town, home to home, city park to city park and after a year of campaigning which we absolutely loved. we won the election of 2004. >> so the kids have a pretty good sense of what politics is, the good, the bad, and the ugly. they're all pretty sophisticated kids. they have been around political life. they have been around the world. they're realists and they're very, very supportive and very

excited. >> national journal wrote this about your campaign that john huntsman would be the right candidate with the right message at the wrong time based on what is happening in the republican party. how do you respond to that? >> i give the republican party more credit than that. i believe the republican party and indeed people who used to be republicans who are now unafillated or now independent voters are looking for a good, clear, economic message. based upon it being delivered by someone who has been there and done that and i think those three areas that i mentioned earlier are going to be critically important as people consider where we are in our time in history and where we need to go. and that is business experience, governing experience and international experience. we bring them all together. i think our message is right. people find that we are a conservative problem-solver. i'm pro life, pro second amendment. i'm pro growth with a track record to show for it. more importantly, we're going to be honest with the voters.

my track record is what it is. my accomplishments are what they are. i'm running on my record. i'm proud of it and all i ask is for people to look at it. inif they do, they'll like what they see. i'm not going to morph myself into something i am not. i am what i am. the record is what it is. i think it's absolutely consistent with our time in history. we're going to take it out to folks aggressively and we're going to say what i think needs to be said and hope for the best. i like our position. >> what is your strategy? begin in iowa, moves to new hampshire, goes to south carolina and a series of big states in florida where your campaign headquarter is located. >> we're really beginning in new hampshire. that's where it starts for us. new hampshire is an incredibly important state. we have spent a lot of time in new hampshire. our message is tailored particularly well for the people of new hampshire. they want budgets balanced, government out of their lives

which is completely consistent of my own view of the world. we're going to do well in new hampshire. we're going to surprise people. this is a state that doesn't like to be told for whom to vote. this is a state that likes a candidate to come in and earn it. they like the old shoe leather approach. they want to know your heart and soul, what you believe, get to know your family. we're approaching it exactly the right way. we go to south carolina where we have a terrific ground game. we have a great support group in south carolina, henry mcmaster is one of our leaders in state, the former attorney general, one of the more respected people in politics, carol campbell's family, the most beloved political family in the state came out and endorsed us recently, just to mention a couple of examples. i think the momentum coming out of new hampshire going into south carolina is such that we're going to do well. i think that momentum is going to be real. i think the connection with south carolina on the issues

that matter most, things like economic revitalizization, keeping that boeing plant that unionses are trying to close down is important to south carolina. they are issues that we are all about. onward to florida which i think where the republican nomination is going to be decided. my wife is from florida. she is an orlandan. our headquarters are in orlando, the first time in history that a republican presidential candidate has headquartered their campaign in the state of florida. there say lot of good buzz as a result of that. with the people of the florida know we're taking that state very, very seriously. i do believe that is where i believe the nomination is going to be wrapped up. >> let me conclude with this point. you have been on the campaign trail for three or four months. what have you learned about yourself in this process running for president? >> how important it is to speak from the heart and to be

genuine because you can't have people make you into something you're not. you can have advisors, you can have media focus. you can have strategists. at the end of the day, you are who you are and people see you for who you are and they can cut through the buster and they can cut through the artifice with no problem at all. you're left standing with who you are. your family is who you are, your record for what it is. i have learned more than anything else at the national level that you're standing on that stage all alone based upon what you have done, what your record is, and what you have in your heart and what you have in your head. that is driving us in this race and i think that's enough to drive us all the way to victory. >> do you have your republican opponents in mind when you say that? >> no, not necessarily, but i do believe that this is a race that is going to be won, not at the extremes of the political spectrum. i think that the party in some

cases has gone too far to the right and that's not where you win elections. this is a center right country for the most part. i believe it's a pragmatic country. i think it's a common sense solution oriented country. we're a bunch of optimists in this country. we stare down obstacles and channels and we always know we can rise to the occasion. i believe this country is waiting for a candidate who can face the realities head on, who is a similarly practical pragmatic common sense results-oriented person and that's exactly our mode of operation. that's exactly the tradition we come from, so i think i like exactly where we sit politically. we are who we are. we got the record that we got and i believe it's timed perfectly well with what this nation needs. >> former governor, former ambassador john huntsman, thanks for being with

>> lots more video of the candidates, see what political reporters are saying, and track political contribution with our website for campaign 2012. twitter feed send facebook updates from the campaigns. candidate biographies, and the latest polling data, plus links to c-span media partners in the early primary and caucus states. >> in a few moments, our coverage of the poll county high what fundraiser, including remarks by presidential candidates rick perry, ron paul, and thaddeus mccotter. and "washington journal" is live at 7:00 a.m. eastern with the damage caused by a hurricane terrain, how businesses prepare for weather emergencies, and

the trans-canada keystone pipeline. several live events to tell you about today, including president obama's speech to the american legion national convention in minneapolis at noon eastern. just after that, at 1:00 p.m., labor secretary hilda solis will be at the national press club for an hourlong interview on jobs and in the economy. then at 3:00 p.m. eastern, the elected council host at a discussion on the training of afghan security forces. ♪

♪ >> republican presidential candidate rick perry says that president obama may have inherited a bad economy, but he made it was. he poked -- he spoke to a republican fund raiser in des moines.

a radio talk-show host presented him with a holster. other candidates spoke, such as ron paul and thaddeus mccotter. the entire event is about 45 minutes. ♪ >> good afternoon. not going to turn me loose yet. >> i know this is unusual. you will understand in a minutes. before we get going, i have to do something. if you'll just bear with me for a moment, i would appreciate it. i made a promise to one of our veterans. and i intend to keep it. in addition to being a veteran, he tells me he is a servant of god. >> amen. >> he is also a craftsman.

and making and gun leather for hollywood celebrities and movies. he wrote to me and he told me that he wanted to attend today, but he does not get out very much these days. this is what he said. gov. rick perry has got my attention with some of his comments. by the way, governor, this is iowa. i do not know if i am going to support him yet, but i wanted to give him some encouragement as he goes out there on the campaign trail. please give him this 1911 hand carved holster for me. which i'm about to do. [applause] he was a very famous texas lawmen. perhaps the most famous charity lawman in hit streak.

-- cherokee long and in history. governor, from one great veteran to another, that is for you. [applause] >> thank you very much. it is named after the year that it was first made by colt. this as -- this is the centennial year for the 1911. there is a little bit of history for you. that's right. perfect. i appreciate that coming from an individual to serve our country. i want to take a moment. i learned to drive on a john deere. that is up, and john ain't right there. -- poppin' johnny right here.

it is made right up here in iowa. god bless john deere. they have helped feed the world. we just need a little rain down in texas so we can do our part. the farmers in iowa are doing theirs. god bless them. it is good to be here. jalapeno peaks. it does not make any difference to me whether you were talking -- i feel right at home when you're talking about peppers. it is an honor to be here. it was 12 days ago when i was here. i thought, where did all the people vote? the fare was wide open and there were 100,000 people. everything is alright. there are still a lot of folks here. i love this state and it makes me feel at home. it does it in one way because of the agricultural production that goes on here. you all lead the nation and the production of corn and soybeans. of eggs and hogs.

you are an impressive number two in wind energy production. the reason we are number when -- the reason why we are number one is because we have more space. [laughter] i'm not bragging. he said we produce more wind energy per capita. i get it. growing up on a cotton farm, i know the value of hard work. that is what is reflected here in the state by your citizens. i do not think anyone demonstrate it any better than the folks of iowa. as the governor of the state to is going through a very hard drought, just as you well work -- were devastated by floods in years past. the outpouring of support from this tiny little town.

luanna. they have really touched a lot of parts in texas. farmers and church leaders, they have organized the loading and transportation of hay down to texas to give to some cattle ranchers. those about to lose their herds. it did not take a government bureaucrat to make that happen. just generous hearts of people. who by the grace of god could have been turned around the other way. i want to say thank you to iowa to help you have sent to texas. thank you for that. [applause] just because you have a good crop going, it does not mean that there are not some iowans that are struggling. since the stimulus package was passed. lost 12,100 jobs since

the current president of the white house took office. 5600 manufacturing jobs lost. the 200 and construction. iowans arein eight bone on food stamps. that is a testament to the widespread misery created by this administration. the state known for feeding the world's has so many residents dependent on government just to pay for their food. shockingly thomas vilsack,the obama administration official, former governor of iowa, he recently referred to food stamps as an economic stimulus. ooing] food stamps are not the solution.

they are a symptom of the problem that too many people are without work. [applause] food stamps did not stimulate the economy. they stimulate government dependents. most americans do not yearn to be dependent on government subsidies. they want economic freedom. economic freedom comes from work and wages, not welfare. since the time i was old enough to drive the tractor, i knew that the american way was not about empowering government, it was about empowering people. that is the american way. [applause] today's leaders see it differently, though. to be fair, president obama did inherit a bad economy. to this fault, he made it worse. [applause] he delivered a trickle down bureaucracy, spending close to $800 million of stimulus that trickled down for the bureaucracy to handpicked industries to create temporary

jobs. instead of eliminating our economic crisis, he worse in debt. -- he worsened it. instead of addressing the debt, he exploited it. -- he exploded it. he promised lower employment at this particular point in his presidency. one in six work-eligible americans cannot find a full- time job. that is not an economic recovery, mr. president. that is an economic disaster. [applause] it is time for change. i am not talking about the rhetoric of change, i am talking about the record of change. i have that record. if you look at the state of texas, we are where we are by keeping taxes low, cutting spending, making sure that regulations are fair and predictable, and stopping frivolous lawsuits. we just passed a loser pays

program in the state of texas to add to our substantial tort reform. [applause] our economy is responsible for 40% of all the jobs created in america since june of 2009. think about that. 40% of all the jobs created were in one state. some would say, you have been creating jobs for 20 years. that is true. as paul harvey might say, let's get to the rest of the story. the rest of the story is this. under the two governors before me, texas didn't create jobs. -- did create jobs. 10% of what the nation gained. the entire nation was creating jobs in the 1990's. since i've become governor, texas has created more than 1 million jobs while the rest of the country lost 2.5 million.

the difference is, we were not writing an american wave of prosperity. we were swimming against the current. the point is not to brag. the point is to say, as a nation, we can, we must do better. when i am president, we will. [applause] it is up to this generation of americans to stand for freedom. to send a message to washington, d.c., that we are taking our future back from the grips of the central planners who are controlling our health care, spending our treasure, downgrading our future, and micromanaging our lives. we have had enough. [applause] it is time to limit and simplify taxes. we have to stop spending money that we do not have. we have to repeal this

president's misguided one size fits all health care plan. [applause] we will create jobs. we will educate and innovate in science and technology and engineering to create the jobs and the progress that is needed to get america working again. i promise you this. i will work every day to make washington d.c., as inconsequential in your life as i can. i promise you that. [applause] i believe in america. i believe in her promise. i believe her best days are still in front of us. i believe our children are still yet to write the great story about this country. with your help on the courage of the american people, we will get our country working again.

god bless you. thank you for being with us today. [applause] ♪ ["really good at getting by" playing]

♪ >> polk county also heard from texas representative ron paul. this is about three minutes. [applause] >> thank you very much. thank you. it is so nice to see this large crowd. such a friendly crowd. i am delighted to be here. it was mentioned, there you go, that is a little better. that is good advice. it was mentioned a minute ago by simon that about 48% of the american people are not paying taxes. a media person asked me about this. nearly half of the people are not paying income taxes. my response. we are halfway there, that was my response. [applause] that has been one of my goals. i am pretty old-fashioned on some of the things, like the constitution. i still take the oath of office rather seriously. if we had people in washington that only voted for bills that were constitutionally correct, we would not need -- we would

not need an income tax. you do not need all of that money. we would not have the entitlement system. we would not be the policeman of the world. we would not be running up these debts. that would be totally impossible. that is my ideal. that is my goal. i do not talk a lot about flat taxes and sales taxes and the different ways. i want a flat tax, but i want it very flat. not only getting rid of the income tax, but our goal should be even more easily achievable. i do not think we should have an inheritance tax on all. we should repeal that. [applause] our problem is government is too big. as government gets bigger, your personal liberties are diminished. there is no way that you can escape it. if you deliver to the government the responsibility to take care of the economy and to be the policeman of the world, you cannot do that without high taxation.

taxation is a symptom of what the people's appetite is for government. for us to change what is happening in washington, the people have to change their appetite for government. if you believe in the entitlement system and you believe that we have to be in 130 countries and fight endless wars, you have to have high taxation. taxes are so high that it does not even pay the bills. we live within our means, then we borrow, then we cannot borrow any more. then we tax, we cannot tax anymore. what we do? we invent this really ridiculous idea, when we are short money, print it. this is why the federal reserve system and the monetary system has to be addressed if you want to address the subject of big government. my position is loud and clear. we do not need a federal reserve system. we need a gold standard for our money. [applause]

if we have a government that honored that, government would be limited in size because if the federal reserve could not print money, interest rates would go up and congress would have to cut back spending. it would be self regulating. unfortunately, we do not have that. we left the gold standard in 1971. it convinced me of what we have embarked on. if you look at any economic charge from 1971 on, economic growth has been diminished, unemployment problems have occurred, debts have increased, deficits each year are huge, the entitlement system is bigger than ever. it is a result of no restraints. the appetite for spending is endless. unfortunately, we as members of congress, have been rewarded for it because -- guess what, we live in a different world today.

it is a different world for everybody is challenging the entitlement system. i challenge the entitlement system, on principle. not nipping at the edges. i did not believe entitlements are right and we have to get back to understanding what our rights are. you have a right to your life, your liberty. you ought to have the right to keep what you earn. people who claim they are entitled to something does not mean they have a right to what you earn. [applause] i have talked a lot about foreign policy. i will not talk so much about it tonight. foreign policy is very important. there is a lot of spending an aunt. -- in yet. -- in it. there are some basic principles that we should adhere to. i resent the fact that we go to war without your permission. the constitution is clear. we go to war with a declaration.

the congress gets behind it and the people get behind it. you know with the enemy is. you get it over with and you do not drag it out for ten or 20 years. [applause] the other thing i resent is the method that we go to war. we did not even ask the congress anymore. we ask the united nations. and then we get a resolution. then we go to nato and nato organizes. we become marching troops for nato. i do not believe that we should be in the united nations. and taking orders from the united nations. [applause] we have been careless with that for a long time, ever since world war ii. we have been fighting a lot of wars with no debt correlation --

declaration. this libya is an affront to our dignity. we went to war there with the president flaunting and saying, i do not need to talk to you. not even a token resolution. the congress has not stood up to the president. the president goes to war and says, no big deal. i get my orders from nato. we are going in there and it is for all kinds of reasons. if we knew and understand -- understood what national sovereignty meant, we would not succumb to this. we would not allow this to happen. we would act within the confines of the constitution. i blame the lack of respect for the constitution on almost everything. if we got into this mess with little respect for the constitution, getting back to a dignified economy and common- sense, while we just obey the constitution once again? that would solve some of our

problems. -- that would solve so many of our problems. [applause] article 1, section 8 says what we are allowed to do. the things that we are not allowed to do is express -- and they are expressed in the ninth and 10th amendments. those powers and rights of a given to the government, if they are not given to the government, they are left to the states. i believe very strongly that the state's need to express themselves and to say that they have a responsibility. the states need to deal with this. we should not be a reference to the federal government all the time. the regulations can be local. what about education? how long have we been deferring to the federal government about education? for a long time. did we amend the constitution? nope.

we just started doing it. we should say something. we do not need a department of education. we need to take care of our schools by ourselves. [applause] we have a lot of problems. i have a lot of goals. some people said they are idealistic. if you do not have ideals, you are not going to go very far. you're going to have to set some goals. the most responsible thing would be for parents to be responsible for the education in the local communities. that is what should be done. [applause] we really do not need a department of education. if you are looking for places to cut, we could start with the department of education and a few other departments that we do not need. [applause] when you look at these problems, it is always good to be able to opt out of the system. if you cannot change it, the monetary system is a mess,

people should have the right to opt out. today, if you use gold and silver as legal tender, the federal government can accuse you of terrorism and counterfeiting. the counterfeiters are all the federal reserve. [applause] >> that's right. >> i would like to legalize your constitutional right to use gold and silver as money. if you like the paper money, keep using it. if you think that you should use honest money, use gold and silver. you can do that for education as well. we have a monstrosity of a bureaucracy controlling education at the federal level. hiring thousands and thousands of bureaucrats, millions if not billions of dollars. we always have to argue the case for opting out. that means we should never allow government to encroach upon your rights to do home schooling and private schooling. [applause]

also in medicine, yes, i would like to opt out of obama-care. i would like to get rid of the obama-care. you ought to be able to opt out of the whole system. why canyon not opt out of all government systems? why don't we put our money in and pay our own bills and get our tax deduction and by a major -- buy a major medical policy and what the -- let the government stay out of our lives? [applause] i would like to see the day it when the government stays out of relies and out of our wallets. we would all be better off if we had a government like that. we are in big trouble right now. financial trouble. it is explainable. it was predictable. the austrian free-market economists had predicted this for a long time. timing is something harder to predict. if you print a lot of money, the value of that currency is

going to go down. it is going down more rapidly than it has in many years. the real danger that we face today is the fact that we could have runaway inflation. yes, the entitlements will not be paid and there will be anger and demonstrations on the street. on the way inflation is very dangerous. -- runaway inflation is very dangerous. that is a political crisis. when you have chaos, what happens is people are too anxious. they say we need more government to take care of us and make us safe. i have come to the conclusion that sacrificing your liberty to be more safe does not work. he sacrificed it, but you are never more safe. we need to protect our liberties. that is what our goal should be. [applause]

one of the responsibilities of the federal government, one of the major responsibilities is national defence. given us a sound currency and an economic system that provides the opportunity and a chance free to take care of yourself. -- for you to take care of yourself. we need to reemphasize this like we have never emphasized it before. we have to know what we believe them. we cannot say, we want a little bit of freedom here and think that is gone to work. -- and think that is going to work. we have to know what our goal is. the purpose of all political action should be the protection of liberty. not for running your life, not for running the economy. a president or a congress does not know how to run the economy. they do not know how you should spend your money. they do not know what your spiritual values are. the government should not be involved in that. the sooner we learned that lesson, the faster we can shrink this budget. and the deficit. if we get into a situation

where there is chaos, i am afraid to many people say, we want order. the best quarter in a free -- the best quarter in neighboring -- order in a three free society, and the only way you can be protected, is not by having more police them. not by having more federal agents with guns. and they are illegal, anyway. you need a firm understanding and a conviction on how the second amendment works to protect you in a physical manner. [applause] a lot of people are discouraged and die at discouraging news for you, generally. but there is a lot of good news out there. a lot of people are paying attention to what this country is all about. what made us great, what made us a prosperous? quiet property rights are important. by taxation is wrong. people are thinking about it. the young people are talking about this and very interested.

studying austrian economics. understanding why we should not have a federal reserve system and why the constitution is so important. that is where i get my encouragement. also, i believe that people are thinking this way because now it is down to only 17% that believe our federal government is acting within the confines of what they're permitted to do. the very large majority are disgusted with it and they are looking for answers. the answers are not strange or new. i did not invent them. we tested them for a couple of hundred years. for the last 80 years, we have allowed it to slip. we have lost our determination to study and understand how free markets work. people give us a bad rap. the conservative and a constitutionalist republicans. we did a bad rap because they say we do not care. we do not have any compassion, we do not care about our fellow man. the truth is, if you are truly compassionate, you will always

opt for the free market and freedom and property rights. look at history. the prosperity has always, the greater freedom. we have had the greatest freedom and we have the greatest prosperity. guess what? it is going downhill. these last 10 years have been bad news for us. not just since 2008. it has been bad news. we have not created any real jobs in the past 10 years and we have accumulated all of this debt. it is coming to an end. what are going to do about it? are we going to reinstate these values? and say that we should not give up on this experiment? if you look at all of history, all of history, and it has been occupied by dictators. a authoritarians and kings. yet we have the test. it was wonderful. we are allowing it to slip from our figures unless we make a -- our thinkers unless we make-up

-- fingers unless we make a declaration that we do truly believe in freedom. that is what the goal should be. that is what you should do politically. do not allow this to leave us. the opportunity is there because the need is there. four years ago, six years ago, 20 years ago, the attention has been minimal. today, there is a lot more attention. it is not so much that i give a better speeches. there is a greater need. people are realizing the system we have to date is not working. even those who have been on the receiving end are getting worried. how are they going to get your money if you do not have jobs and working hard to take care of them? there is a lot of concern and that means there are a lot of opportunities. our party has traditionally stood for these values. we have to restate those principles and stick to them. there is no reason why we have to continue to go downhill. there is every reason to believe that if we did the right

thing, it would not take long, we could get on our feet in no time. if we do not restore our liberties, we are in big trouble. it may take a lot longer. thank you very much for coming today and allow me to speak. >> thaddeus mccotter also spoke with the republicans for a little more than 10 minutes. >> thank you for that kind introduction. for once again proving that rock-and-roll does not pay. great to be back here at the state fair grounds as well. the last time here, i was out on a soapbox and i was discovering such exotic bemusement as fried butter on a stick. i've also learned that people

are very concerned about their future. that is why, for the first time in my life, when i arrived at a republican event, i was given a bodyguard. erick, where are you? there is my bodyguard. when he introduced himself to me, i said, you are my bodyguard? dude, i am from detroit. who is going to protect you from me? it is great to be here. despite the difficult times in which we find ourselves, we embrace the challenges before us. just as the party of lincoln embraced the challenges that were born in civil war. to support union and the emancipation. just as the republican party in 1980 came together in the midst of a cold war to support liberty and prosperity.

today, the challenges we face are equally daunting to some, namely those who believe that only government can solve our problems. we know better. we understand the democratic party is not progressive. the democratic party is regressive. [applause] this country was founded as a revolutionary experiment and liberty and self-government. the future of this country remains liberty and self- government. when the democratic party tells you that your decision and your property and your liberty must continue to be housed within a large mass of imploding federal welfare state, we tell them no.

when you look around the world, you live amidst a communications revolution, one which is empowering.. you can go home tonight and at your laptop computer, you can seek information from anywhere in the world. you are no longer bound by mainstream networks or a handful of newspapers. you can go home tonight and after laptop computer, you can order a good or service anywhere in the world. you are no longer bound by how far your car can drive or what the mail might bring you. you can go home tonight and use your laptop computer to spread the message of the republican party, of our optimistic view

over the country is going to go. you can send it to your friends. you can send it to your family. you can send it around the world. in short, we live in a world where you would not allow the federal government to tell you what to put on your facebook page. you would not let the federal government tell you what to tweet. you would not allow the federal government to tell you how to run your life. or what to put on your ipod. why would anyone let the federal government tell them who their doctor could be? why would anyone of the federal government continue to foster regulations that destroyed the productive capacity of the united states in a time of recession? why would anybody go from a citizen-driven future back to the failed politics of jimmy carter? the answer is, we will not.

[applause] we will restructure a government for the 21st century to make it smaller, more accountable, more flat. our democratize the economy is. the federal government cannot operate as it did in the year of my birth, 1965. no individual, no business can operate as if this was 46 years ago and expected be viable in the 21st century. we must use the principles of lincoln and reagan in restructuring this government. as a compassionate nation, we understand the need for a social safety nets. we understand the morality of helping those who cannot help themselves. we understand the morality of

helping those who are struggling to get back to the dignity of self-reliance. what we will never accept is the welfare state that takes individuals who are self- reliant and times them to them to becomepts dependent upon government and the redistribution of other people's wealth. that is unjust. [applause] restructuring government to get this economy going is not the only challenge we face. we have to be willing to accept that the same big government that bailed out the big wall street banks is the central problem facing our economy today. we experienced the greatest credit contraction since the great depression. this is not the fault of community banks. it is not the fault of credit unions.

which are being punished as if they cause the problem. it is the fault of the individuals who brought our economy to the precipice of ruin. in michigan, we understand the need for credit, the need for capital to produce wealth and put products into the marketplace. we must be willing to take on the big failed wall street banks so they are forced to recapitalize. they are no longer subsidized by ben bernanke on this federal reserve board. if we do this, we will continue with tax reform and regulatory reform. when you match those reforms with the creative genius of the american people, you will see a period of unprecedented prosperity that will not only

did this out of this economic stagnation, it will lay the foundation for america to remain the world's leading economic engine in the 21st century. [applause] finally, we must also defend america from our enemies. we understand peace through strength must be matched with the capabilities of the united states to have any merit and receive respect and the world. we understand the united states cannot turn around to the people of afghanistan and abandon them to their fate. we must continue to work with them and trusted commanders on the ground, protect the fragile gains and the harvard and sacrifice of our men and women in uniform said that america keeps her word so that those people have a chance for liberty.

an so that our problems do not follow us home. as we learned from lincoln, those who seek to ensure liberty for themselves must extend liberty to others. if we fail in that mission, we will fail. we will do no favors and no honor to the men and women in uniform who have given some much to make this possible. i would like to end on an optimistic note. i have no doubt that despite these difficult times, it will be a hard road to a better day, but we will get there. as americans, we have always done so. while there are doubts about the virtues nature of our free people, we are not the problem. the problem is a big government that believes that it knows how

elites no better than knew how to live your lives. despite president obama talking about all the horrible interest groups that are holding america back, he left one out. i would like to remind him. the most powerful special interest in the world is a big government. president obama is its lobbyist. [applause] in 2012, with your support, with the support of the american people, we will ensure that big government's lobbyist has all the time that he wants to vacation on martha's vineyard. [applause]

and it will happen. regardless of whether i am the nominee. or someone like governor perry. our party will come together and we willreject the democrat'' new norm of america mediocrity. we will not cede the 21st century to european socialism. or the chinese communism. as republicans, as americans, we will guarantee that the 21st century is one of the american freedom and we will remain a virtuous, purposeful republic that does not exist to emulate the world. it exists to inspire the world. thank you very much. [applause] [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2011]

>> in a few moments, today's headlines in your calls live on "washington journal." president obama is speaking to the american legion national convention in minneapolis. you can see that lives at noon eastern. just after that at 1:00 p.m., a labor secretary hilda solis will be at the national plus club for an hourlong interview on jobs and the economy. we will have live coverage of an lentic council discussion on the training of afghan security forces at 3:00 p.m. eastern. at about 45 minutes, we will examine the federal government's flood insurance program and the damage caused by hurricane irene. our guest is a robert hartwig, president of the american insurance information institute. juliet eilperin will discuss the os