announces a decision concerning contraception coverage for faith based organizations. itthen ann coulter at the conservative political conference. and wisconsin gov. scott walker is the speaker at the cpac ronald reagan dinner. president obama has announced a modification law revision. under the revision, women are still guaranteed access to contraception, but if their employer rejects for religious reasons, it falls on the insurance provider. the president's remarks are about 10 minutes. i [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2012] >> that was pretty good. hello, everybody. i was actually going to say good morning, but i guess it is afternoon by now.

as part of the health care reform law that i signed last year, all insurance plans are required to cover preventive care at no cost. that means free checkups, free mammograms, immunizations, and other basic services. we fought for this because it saves lives and it saves money. for families, businesses, government, everybody. that is because it is a lot cheaper to provide an illness and to treat one. we also accepted a recommendation from the experts at the institute of medicine when it comes to women, preventive care should include coverage of contraceptive services such as birth control. in addition to family planning, doctors often prescribe contraception as a way of reducing risk of ovarian and other cancers and treat a variety of ailments. we know the overall cost of health care is lower when women

have access to contraceptive services. nearly 99% of all women have replied that on contraception at some point in their lives. 99%. yet more than half of all women between the ages of 18 and 34 have struggled to afford it. for all of these reasons, we decided to follow the judgment of the nation's leading medical experts and make sure that free preventive care includes access to free contraceptive care. with your teacher or small business woman or a nurse or a janitor, no woman's health should depend on who she is or where she works or how much money she makes. every woman should be in control of the decisions that affect her own health. period. this basic principle is already the law in 28 states across the country.

as we moved to implement this rule, however, we have been mindful there is another principle at stake here, and that is the principle of religious liberty, and on inalienable right that has been enshrined in our constitution. as a citizen and as a christian, i cherish this right. my first job in chicago was working with catholic parishes in poor neighborhoods, and my salary was funded by a grant from an arm of the catholic church. i saw that local churches often did more good for a community that a government program ever could. so i know how important the work that faith based organizations do. how much impact they can have in their communities. i also know that some religious institutions, particularly those affiliated with the catholic church, have their religious objection to providing insurance that provides contraceptive services for their employees. that is why we originally exempted all churches from this

requirement. an exemption, by the way, that the state's already had. that is why from the very beginning of this process, i spoke directly to various catholic officials, and i promised that before finalizing the rules as applied to them, we would spend the next year working with institutions like catholic hospitals and catholic universities to find an equitable solution that protects religious liberty and ensures that everyone has access to the care that she needs. now, after the many and genuine concerns that have been raised over the past few weeks, as well as, frankly, the more cynical desire on the part of some to make this into a political football, it became clear that spending months hammering out a solution was not going to be an option. that we needed to move this faster. last week, i directed the department of health and human services to speed up the process that had already been

envisioned. we were not going to spend a year doing this, we were going to spend a week or two doing this. today, we have reached a decision on how to move forward. under the rule, women will still have access to free preventive care that includes contraceptive services, no matter where they work. that core principle remains. but if a woman's employer is a charity or hospital that has a religious objection to providing contraceptives as part of their health plan, the insurance company, not the hospital, not the charity, will be required to reach out and offer the woman contraceptive care, free of charge, without copiague, without hassle. the result will be that religious organizations will not have to pay for the services, and no religious institution will have to provide the services directly. let me repeat -- these employers

will not have to pay for or provide contraceptive services. but women who work at these institutions will have access to free contraceptive services, just like other women, and it will no longer have to pay hundreds of dollars per year that could go towards paying the rent or buying groceries. i have been confident from the start that we could work out a sensible approach. just as i promised. i understand some folks in washington may want to treat this as another political wedge issue, but it should not be. i certainly never saw it that way. this is an issue where people of goodwill on both sides of the debate have been sorting through complicated questions to find a solution that works for everyone. with today's announcement, we have done that. religious liberty will be protected, and a law that requires free preventive care

will not discriminate against women. we live in a pluralistic society, where we will not agree on every single issue or share every belief. that does not mean that we have to choose between individual liberty and basic fairness for all americans. we are unique among nations for having been founded upon both these principles, and our obligation as citizens to carry them forward. i have complete faith we can do that. thank you very much, everybody. >> tonight, ronald reagan dinner is being held in washington, d.c., one of the events of the political action conference, and that the speaker this evening is wisconsin gov. scott walker. he is refacing -- he is facing a recall election.

introducing him will be republican national committee chairman, and we expect comments to start at about 8:30, about 25 minutes or so from now. until then, look at an earlier speaker from cpac, ann cou lter. she spoke for about 25 minutes, and we will bring you as much of her comments as we can before the governor's appearance. [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2012] [captioning performed by national captioning institute] >> greetings, one percenters, and welcome to occupy the marriott. the you know that michael moore is only one person, he controls 33% of the world's cholesterol? the system is broken, i tell you, my friends. i know what some of you are

thinking -- are you the one who wrote that smashed new york times out best seller? no sooner did it come out then demonic liberals came out in mobs across the nation. yes, that is me, and i'm sorry for that. the good news is it the title of my next book is "nancy pelosi moved to luxembourg." [laughter] [applause] most irritating attributes is their internal slogans. slogans give off the appearance of having meaning, but if you think about it for 30 seconds, they mean nothing, kind of like an obama's speech. bush lied, kids died, the sense of patriotic, you cannot love your child with nuclear arms. what does that mean? what does that mean? you cannot hug a child with nuclear arms?

that particular bumper sticker all over jerry sandusky's car? it was slogans that that obama collected, hope and change, we are the ones we have been waiting for. hope and change nearly beat out obama's second choice for a slogan, i am going to raise the debt by four trillion dollars and not create a second job. that was not as catchy. so now we have this candidate in the white house who has performed this financial merkel that economists have referred to as the carter years, where 15 trillion dollars of debt, and obama's plan is to spend more. was bernie madoff appointed spending is are when i was not paying attention? i cannot pay attention to all of these non recess, recess appointments. first the stimulus bill was

supposed to create jobs, but mostly stimulated the government. now be government what's another trillion, which they say is for jobs. they say that republicans are against jobs. republicans should say, what happened to the first trillion? [applause] sorry, that went to public school teacher pensions. sorry, that is gone. we are out. the democrats are like your degenerate brother in law, who borrows $500 for the right and spend it on crack and of course, comes back, and says i have to have $500 for the right. no, no, no, what happened to the last trillion dollars? [applause] at least we have a lot of extra money lying around for new entitlements like obama-care. obama-care is so fantastic, everyone is so looking for to being in a, but the democrats

immediately gave waivers to 1000 of their best friends. since obama-care became law, continuously, without a vote to spare, purely partisan vote, americans opposed it when it passed, and a canadian as majority of americans have continued to oppose it since it passed. the only thing that americans have agreed on this much is that o.j. killed nicole. [applause] obama also told the truth, brought us together. he also told the truth on the not raising taxes on those making $250,000 or more. they're not paying taxes for the simple reason they don't have jobs. consider the lowest unemployment number since obama has been present occurred the day he took office. since then, up, up, up, a little

bit now. the unemployment rate was 7.6% when he took office. the next month, 8.1% it when soaring through 9%, 10%. now that he has got it down to 8.6%, everybody in the media is calling for a hallelujah chorus. it is like to go to a doctor with a fever of 102, he treats you, it goes to 104, three years later is 103, and we're supposed to agree he is a good doctor. [applause] that will conclude our sneak preview of what american medical care will be like under obama- care. [laughter] i'm just kidding, under obama- care, you'll have to wait six years to see a doctor. you'll probably get better by then. or you will die. [laughter] but even with all of this, obama

is going to be very difficult to beat this year. number one, he is an incumbent. no. 2, americans keep telling pollsters they like him personally. but like his policies, but they like him personally. is crazy about him. he is not, like carter, he is not sleazy like clinton. he would probably make a wonderful neighbor, unless you are chinese and that he would be constantly borrowing stuff. a[laughter] [applause] voters with 40 years of politically correct education are excited to have the first black president. they just at love the idea of it, even if we did get flavor flav and not thomas sold.

when is it going to be ok to admit that we elected a man based on the color of his skin? i am talking, of course, about john boehner. [laughter] dark orange is in, baby. akaka popular snookie is. republicans have managed to beat a sitting president just once in the last 50 years. once was in 1980 with ronald reagan. that is why i said from this stage a year ago that i thought doug christie was the only one who could be obama. i was more pessimistic about any republicans beating obama, and chris christie is the kind of politician that comes around once in a generation. he speaks the truth, bald, directly, the way nobody else will, taking on the evil umpire -- the evil empire of the day, by which i mean the public sector unions. [applause]

but despite my herculean efforts, christie has decided not to run. now he will not even return my calls. i thought we had something special, governor. [laughter] but since last year, obama has gotten worse, and at romney has gotten a lot better. i assume that you have bent -- [applause] i assume this audience has been watching the debates, and i thanked romney has been practicing, because he is a lot better in these debates that he was in 2008. meanwhile, independents are fleeing obama. based on public approval ratings now, it looks like he is not headed for reelection. [applause] no amount of that jakarta charm

will get people their jobs back. this time he has to run on his record. when you remember when ronald reagan ran on his record in 1984, "saturday night live" dave a sketch of walter mondale in the war room, looking district by district at which ones they thought walter mondale could take. the pullback by the map and you see the entire map is just a map of minnesota. [laughter] that is what happens when reagan runs on his record. obama has to run on his record now, and the only ones running on hope and change are us. since i have been up here talking, obama has hired another hard core electorate to install another governor bureaucracy. this is the most important election of our lifetime because this is the only shot that we have to repeal obama-care.

if it is not repeal the in the next administration, that is it. it is here to stay. if people start receiving their treats, it gingrich will be mounting plans of reform, and america begins its inexorable decline in to western europe. so i ask you, who are you willing to stake the future of this country on winning? he will appeal to most independence? because if we are betting the future of this country on newt gingrich not being repelling independence, i want my money back. i am not taking that bat. on election day, every stupid woman in the country will be driving to the polls, sobbing because she is afraid of newt gingrich. [laughter] i, too, enjoyed people who enjoy

the media. i am that person. [laughter] [applause] but this is a presidential election that will decide the future of the country. to stake everything on it alienating independence and get nothing else, that accomplishes nothing. keep your eye on the prize, right-wingers, the only question you should keep asking yourself is who will have the most appeal to independents, undecided, to my gender. when reagan ran it and was the first one to take out a sitting president in 100 years, he did not run against jimmy carter by calling him a socialist. he did not call him a >> he did not say anything about carter. i feel like the godfather.

nothing fancy. just get the job done. [laughter] [applause] the democrats have many advantages, but one advantage they do not have is the element of surprise. colorado and dom are called and stupid. there is one presidential candidate who frustrates everyone -- mitt romney. [applause] you cannot call them down or crazy -- dumb or crazy. you can call them sqaure. -- square. i think we have had enough of him.

let's try square for a while. thank you. i will take your questions now. [applause] we have microphones in the audience. >> thank you for coming here. incredible speech. students are often confronted of being aquestion conservative and a woman at the same time. is there anything you can speak to on that topic as to how you can be both a female and a conservative? >> i think all real females are right wingers. [applause] my bodyguards will back me up on this. all pretty girls are right

wingers. [cheers and applause] pretty girls have politics. with many cannot tell. -- with men you can not tell. say a pretty girl is walking toward you. she is a right winger. i think it is the feminist movement that have set us back. it does not need my stunning skills or analysis. the reason why i am attracted is i suppose it's because of liberal women need to date liberal men. as we have seen from bill clinton and anthony wiener, we

have seen how the men treat the women. i would be angry too. i will take 69 cents on the dollar just to never have to pay for dinner. that seems like a fair deal to me. [applause] what levels wants -- liberals is control for all and we will jam this down your throat. who does that help? hmm, i think that helps bill clinton and anthony wiener. you are better off being a conservative.

harvard law school has only been admitting women for so long. one person said that was not true. it turns out that harvard was not accepting winning but they thought she was so hot, they would accept her. >> how confident are you that when mitt romney is elected that he will do what he says he will? i think the issue with him has len with the people's level?fidence

>> he has been clear and forceful that he will repeal obamacare. [applause] what if obama starts reading milton and becomes a free marketer? i guess it could happen. i have said this before. this is the place to say it. you should all have extra cocktails tonight. in 2000 a, just four years ago, one candidate was pro-choice and one voted against the bush tax cuts and one wanted amnesty for illegals and that was the one we

ran. if you look at them on the issues and not jim sup the media,e bvia the romney is the most conservative and he has the strongest position on immigration. said thatnsistently-- an the immigration of policy is important. listening toou're before me is brilliant. there is nothing we losing in 2010 except where we had some people like that woman in

colorado. that's ok. that is not the case with newt gingrinch. he is not more conservative. this is not a senate election. this is the future of the country. this is no time to be, try this. [laughter] >> last question. from rhode island. my question to you is, what do you think of the future of the 10th amendment? >> well, i would have thought that the more republicans got elected the more that congress would have been respected. i have been concerned recently

that some conservatives seem to have been adopting this liberal treats of calling anything you like constitutional and anything you do not like on constitutional -- unconstitutional. [applause] for example, bill clinton ejaculated on an intern. that is not constitutional. constitutional refers to the most brilliant documents from our founding fathers. it is not just the 10th amendments. it is a fantastic constitution. there has never been anything like it in the history of the

world. [applause] by allowing states and federal government, elected officials in state and local governments, to make decisions is not explained as well as it could be. states could have a law saying you have to walk around a in theh ain a purple hat. but we trust the people to vote for reasonable laws. in tennessee they can have salt and guns on the table. that allows you the maximum

number of americans to fashion this sort of society they are living in by breaking it down into the smallest unit as possible. the worst thing about obamacare is certainly not the individual mandates. that is the legal arguments. it is just the beginning. i am glad we are ending on this. i do not want to leave you without making this point. this is not a catholic issue, it is a freedom issue. [cheers and applause] the point is, insurance is to ensure against unexpected catastrophes. it is for cancer and fire or a

kardashian. a car- [laughter] what they are doing is using insurance for communism. they are about to start taking over every single aspect of what you can do and what you can eat. they are calling it insurance. birth control is at most $20 a month. you do not get insurance for that. this woman is obamacare. soon every insurance plan in the country will have to cover everything that would be desirable to the san francisco city council [laughter] . it will be every crazy liberal idea.

once every insurance plan has to cover 100 million different things, aromatherapy, a gambling addiction, oh then you can buy insurance across state lines. this is not insurance. it is a scam. it is not about catholicism. it is not okay. thank you. [cheers and applause] >> we take you back to live coverage of the cpac dinner. he will be introducing the featured speaker. >> i noticed that the stage is tilted towards those i nthi nthe

north -- in the north. we have a language barrier but we are trying to overcome that. regardless, i am very pleased to introduce our next speaker who will introduce our keynote speaker tonight. our national chairman, in my judgment, has done an outstanding job as our national chairman. [applause] well i just got to know him, i got regular reports about the great job he has been doing. please join me in welcoming our chairman. [applause] >> thank you.

thank you, everybody. how many people here are ready to fire barack obama and save america? argue with me? [cheers and applause] -- are you with me? [cheers and applause] it is about liberty and freedom. i have to tell you, i do not know about you and i know this is not a republican party event, i get that, we just want to be part of the conservative movement in this country. i have to tell you, if we do not do our part, the republican party needs to be operational and functional.

it is my promise to you we will be with you in this conservative movement in this country. i say this at the republican party and dance all the time -- the prettier tonight was so fitting -- the prayer tonight was a fitting. you grateful that we are part of a movement that prays before we eat dinner together? [cheers and applause] we are getting ripped up here for all of the cheese has you have had to put up with lately. but i think those cheese heads have done a pretty jo goodb.

job. i want to congratulate the acu greatother gray cpac --grea cpac invention. i also came here with a message from the republican national committee -- we are ready. the republicans have the momentum. we have the enthusiasm. we will have the resources to fire barack obama once and for all and saved america. [cheers and applause] just in case you have not heard, we outraised them during the last quarter and we have

more cash than the national democratic committee. [cheers and applause] we are back and we are ready. this is a fight that you know we cannot lose. there is a battle for freedom playing out across the country. in wisconsin, big labor is launching an assault. in washington, the president is launching an assault on the constitution. if we do not stop this, the price to our country will be greater than even the 16 trillion dollar debt facing our children and our grandchildren. the prize for not winning the battle for freedom that we are engaged in today will be the very idea of america. as some of you know, and i get

it, i have a weird name, it is tough, my son of's name is jack and my daughter's name is grace. my name is what happens when a great and a german get married. -- greek and german get married. but i want to tell you a story. it is the same battle that founded our party in 1854. i told you have of my family is greek. when i grew up -- some of you might be greek -- all of the famileies have relatives

overseas. when i was little, i loved my grandfather. grandfathers' can have such an impact. i remember growing up that my grandfather loved politics. surprise. he loved the party in greece. in greece there are three parties -- the new democracy party, the socialists, and the kke. you can figure out who the good guys are. i remember going to greece and going out on a balcony. out on the balcony in downtown athens was a huge flag the said new democracy. then next to that flak in downtown athens was a huge american flag. [applause]

i know that some of you know this next part. when my grandmother and grandfather would come to wisconsin where i grew up -- they stayed for a couple of months. my grandfather for whatever reason all day long would read the world's books. he would sit on the couch for hours and read them. i remember eight or nine years old listening to him tell me stories. he would take the letter p off

the shelf for presidents. he would read me stories. for him, it did not matter who it was. it could be a democrat or republican. every one of these guys had great stories. to be a little boy and said on the couch listening to stories for hours because the person i loved the most in my life loved this country. he was not from here, but he loved every single thing about it. before i became chairman of this party, i never made a penny in my life in politics. i promise you, i love this party. but what this election is about is not this party. that does not matter. this election is about this country and how if this

president is elected, he will destroy this country and economy. [applause] but today, the idea of america is being threatened. as a matter of principle, a government that has to surrender its sovereignty to its bondholders cannot guarantee prosperity or freedom to anybody. in a country that buries its children and grandchildren in an avalanche of debt cannot be in a moral high ground. a government that has to, in my opinion, a government that is controlled by china, cannot compete with china.

this country was founded on the idea of freedom and individual liberty. the idea of individual liberty was championed by the american revolution. that is what makes us unique as americans in a world that is almost a paradox of sorts unlike many other countries. individual liberty unites us. that is what we are fighting for. that is why thing we must halt obama's unrelenting march to the far left. barack obama's priorities are not america's priorities. obama is not your father's democrats. he is not clinton or kennedy. he is the first on apologetic

left this to live at 1600 pennsylvania avenue and he must be the last. [applause] because this is a president who would rather the how to chinese leaders -- bow to chinese leaders then stand up for american greatness. this is a president who would rather trash to the constitution and reserve our rights. this is a president who would rather refer to the united nations then defend the united states. we serve the principles of jefferson, washington, and madison. obama serves the demands of union bosses and allegis bureaucrats. we believe in the philosophy of our founding fathers. he believes in one man's

philosophy -- the philosophy of barack obama. remember this, every liberal pipe dream this president has pursued, he has done it knowing that he will have to face re- election. imagine what he would do in a second term if he does not have to face re-election. imagine what his decision would have been this week with catholics and christians in this country in regards to the recent episode with this contraceptive mandate coming from barack obama if he did not have to face a second term. but the way it looks, it would be everything short of making the united states a full member in the european union.

as republicans, we need to stand up. remember barack obama would move a little bit to the center, but does it look like he has done that? he has moved further to the left. we saw it last month when he ignored the constitution. he defied it and made at the political appointments. we also saw last month when he said no to the keystone pipeline. he said no to over 20,000 jobs and no to energy security. why? to please his liberal base. we saw it recently when he decided that freedom of religion does not apply to religious organizations.

he sacrificed the first amendment at the altar of big government. for him, obamacare is more sacred than the bill of rights. in america, we have had presidents who have studied law , practice law, and taught law, but we never had a president who thought he was above the law like this president does. [cheers and applause] we have never seen a president that would trade the american dream as i described earlier for a european nightmare. we have to win this election or we will lose america. if we do not, collectivism will

replace individualism. government agencies will replace free enterprise. presidential mandates will replace the constitution. dependency will replace self reliance. the dreams of obama will replace the vision of our founding fathers. barack obama has put america on an unquestionable and unsustainable project 3. ectory. when washington runs the economy, washington runs our lives. when washington can tell us what to do, we cannot tell it to stop. it is time to end the barack obama presidency before his

presidency and our way of life. aren't you with me? [cheers and applause] as chairman, my pledge to you -- i do not want to be the establishment guy. i hate that phrase. i am just a guy from wisconsin that wants to do my little part in running a strong and robust republican national committee. e'll bring all of the races together. we will be victorious on every front. but there is a fight that we need to win before november and

that is in wisconsin. [applause] the entrenched liberal interests want to take the states back to the days of big government and the deficit when big labor called the shots. when scott walker took office, he delivered on his campaign promises. he balanced the budget. he stayed teachers from layoffs. he empowered local districts and nded the days of papeaper politics. our communities are better off. let me tell you, the public union bosses are angry. they refuse to go down without a fight. they are pulling out every trick in the book because after all,

opponents are always angriest when he tried to destroy their nest. when i was chairman of the wisconsin republican party, i used to start every speech with a question about our party. i used to ask our members, what does this party need? do you know what we need? we need people of their word to run for office. [applause] we need people other were to run for office, then we need to win campaigns, the money to govern like we campaign. you cannot prove that you are a your word until you do number three -- govern like you campaign. scott has had to make hard choices to save our states. he had the courage to stick to

his principles. he closed this 3.6 billion dollar deficit. he did not raise taxes. in fact, property-tax is are lower. unemployment is always it has been since 2008. scott walker is a true victory for conservatives across america. [cheers and applause] but in a state where the republican party was boring in 1854 -- born in 1854, the conservative movement is being tested. we have to win wisconsin said that the people of courage and

conviction are not afraid to run for office. victory in wisconsin is a victory for both leaderships across this country. [applause] some of you may know that scott walker is an eagle scout. i happen to notice there is a program listed right after this. there is a screening of showing the last eagle scout. i do not think it is about scott walker, but i can assure you he lives up to all of those scout models. he is prepared for this fight. scott walker is truly a man of courage. my governor is a man of principle. my friend is the kind of leader

that wisconsin needs and that america deserves. so, put your glasses down and put your hands together and please welcome my friend, the governor of the great state of wisconsin, scott walker. [cheers and applause] >> thank you. thank you. thank you. thank you. thank you. it is an honor to be here with all of you. i know it was mentioned before, but my friend has done a

phenomenal job. i have gone around the country and everywhere i go i hear about how many people are impressed with the good work he has done. thank you for your leadership. [applause] it is interesting. tonight i am joined by my better half, the first lady of wisconsin. she is right there in the back in the middle. [applause] she came with me tonight. one of our sons is a senior who is rgetting ready to go to college. wave hello. [applause] i put him out not does to embarrass my kids, but i point out my family because i get

asked all around the country, governor, how do you put up with all of it? we have had protesters bust in our home. we have had all sorts of verbal attacks. even my mother who is 70 has been verbally attacked. people ask me, how did you put up with that? but i tell them that for every one person that comes up to us in a hostile way, there is nine people coming up to me and say to me, governor, we are praying for you and your family.

that means a lot to me. [applause] we appreciate those prayers. i cannot tell you how much that means. we really appreciate that. as my friend mentioned, and he grew up in wisconsin. i grew up in a small town west of his town. i grew up in the 80's. i do not know if there was something in the water or what, but each of us came of age and was inspired to go into public service around the same time. it is fitting with the theme of tonight of honoring ronald reagan. archer inspiration for public- service came from ronald -- our

inspiration for public service came from ronald reagan. his story is an american story. he was an ordinary man who did extraordinary things. he was a mantra to his convictions. true to his man convictions. he knew who he was and where he wanted to go and how to get there. he believed in limited government, lower taxes, and strong national defense. he saw problems and acted swiftly to correct them. he will go down in history as one of our nation's greatest presidents and one of our world's greatest leaders. [applause] when i was coming of age, and he

was a great inspiration to me than and still is today. when i first i running for governor, i tried to apply the same principles as well. i was applying to be the ceo of the wisconsin government. as part of the process, i reached out to people, young and old. i laid out a plan for the future. i said we faced an economical crisis. i told people what we would do. not long after being elected into office, we took action right away. a reporter visited me. he asked, why are you acting so quickly? most governors have not even unpacked their boxes.

i said it is simple. anybody who is the ceo and coming in to take over a company that is feeling, you do not wait [applause] >> on the first day we took office, i went back to the legislature after taking the oath of office and i handed the new leaders letters that called legislate -- legislators into a job-creating convention. we made it easier to create jobs in the private sector not through the government. we moved forward on pulling back on excessive regulations that got in a way of adding more and more red tape to our small businesses to make it easier for them to create jobs and opportunity. we passed some of the most aggressive court reform in the

country understanding that one of the best ways to fuel our economy is to lower the cost of frivolous manufacturers. [applause] we even repealed what might be hard to imagine. we literally had a state tax on savings accounts. we you -- we repealed that because we wanted to give everyone an opportunity to access free-market driven affordable health care options for the higher cost they had under the previous administration. we did all of those things because i want to show that when we said that wisconsin was open for business, it was more than just a slogan or a banner, it was a way of doing business in our state. the great thing is, the results show it is working. it is working. [applause] in the last year, wisconsin has created thousands of new jobs in the private sector.

the unemployment rate is not only down from where it was one year ago, the unemployment rate is the lowest it has been since 2008. contrast that to be for -- you can clap for that. [applause] contrast that to where we were prior to our election when liberal democrats controlled everything in wisconsin. under the previous rain -- reign, wisconsin lost jobs. it had a negative impact on the attitude of our employers. two years ago, in 2010, our chamber of commerce did a survey of job creators. many responded and they were asked, do you think wisconsin is headed in the right direction? do you know what the percentage was in 2010? 10%. 10% of the employers but wisconsin was headed in the right direction. that same survey was taken not too long ago and about a month ago, the results came back for

2012 at the start of this year. do you know what the number had come up to? it went from 10% in 2010 to 94% in 2012. [applause] [cheering] of course, i am a little competitive. i want to know where the 6% are so i can lobby them. in our case, it was great news not because they feel better but because a majority said they plan on growing in 2012 and getting jobs. on top of that, we are having an impact nationwide. for years in wisconsin, we never wanted to talk about the rankings that go from the top to the bottom of the state when it comes to doing business. we were always in the bottom 10. a couple of years ago, we were 43. the year after, we were 41. last year, after several months

of our reforms having a chance to sink in and our successes, we went from 41 to number 24. that is the fastest increase of any state in the entire country. [applause] now, contrast that with my neighbors to the south. [laughter] literally, there is no greater example of the failed policies we are running against an illinois. no better it simple. [applause] if i ask you, governor clinton saw to balance the budget and he said he was not going to do -- governor quinn saw to balance the budget and he said he was not going to do it. they raised taxes on individuals 67%. 46% on businesses.

just recently, you see such an excess. the survey i talked about where we went up 17, an illinois has dropped 45 in the last five years. moodys lowered illinois's bond rating to the lowest in the country. they make california look pretty good. [laughter] they have the lowest in the country. no disrespect, but the "wall street journal" called it the greece down below. [laughter] they have a pension center that is the most underfunded in the country. they have an unemployment rate that is approaching 10%. in contrast, wisconsin passed a budget last year under our leadership that overall reduced -- reduced the overall tax burden. we had a budget that moody's called credit positive. when was the last time you heard

that? our budget was credit positive. our pension system -- our unemployment rate is dropping to 7.1%. [applause] in addition to that, it is interesting because much like illinois, every state -- wisconsin face a budget deficit. by cabinet, one of the largest in the country. we avoided some of the major mistakes that others may. some like illinois raise taxes. we did not. we knew, as i just said, we would -- it would have a devastating impact any devastating burgeon. -- burden. they said, we are going to lay off thousands of public employees. we did not do that in wisconsin, despite what someone said in the media. why? my belief is that i do not need

any massive layoffs. i do not need more people out of work. i want to shrink government, but i want to do it through attrition and reform. not through random peaks lips. you can clap for that, too. that is all right. [applause] i would argue that other states used budget gimmicks to sell its -- to balance their budget. wisconsin did that before i was governor, and that is why we were in the trouble we were in last year at this time. instead, we put in place long- term structural reforms that not only help balance the state budget, but they help us balance our local budget for years to come. i like to say in the capitol, we thought more about the next generation than about the next election. [applause]

it is a pretty simple concept. i think more about the net generation than the next election. -- the next generation than the next election. unfortunately, that is sometimes a poor concept. i believe it is essentially what the people of my state and i believe states all across this country, unless -- elect their public officials to do. think more about the next generation than the next election. we kept our promises and we will continue to do so for years to come. one of those promises was ultimately to help limit the size of the government. to make sure that government serve the people and not the other way around. that is a pretty simple concept, but it had not worked for years. we wanted to make sure that we in power that taxpayers instead of a handful of big government bosses that controlled things before at the state and overwhelmingly at every level. i was a county official for eight years.

we try to make changes to things in instead, time and time again, i t was a handful of big government bosses that stood in the way of reforms. we have changed things. we have the power the taxpayers. that is probably why the liberals are so upset. they do not seem to understand what this is all about. last march, the president of united states went after me and attack me for attacking public employees. we had not done that. the liberals are disconnected. being respectful of the office of the presidency, i want to be careful i did not attack the office, but i wanted to make a point. that night, i held 5:00 press conferences so i could talk to the voters. clear of the filter it that the media provides, i want to talk directly to the people. we had a 5:00 press conference that night. as you can imagine, one of the first questions was, what do you

say in response to the president's criticisms? i said, be respectful. i said, i am sure that the president of the united states must know that the vast majority of federal employees do not have collective bargaining for wages and benefits. i know he must know that. i know that the president of the united states must know that the average federal in police -- employee plate -- is 28% for their health insurance premium. i am sure that the president of the united states is not getting a talking point from the big government bosses in washington. [applause] that " was run about 50 times that night. -- that quote was from about 50 times that night.

in our case, the facts are clear fundamentally so. collective bargaining is not a right. [applause] collective bargaining in the public sector -- it is not a right in the public sector. collective bargaining is an expensive entitlement. [applause] what we did was stand up and say, the taxpayer should actually have something to say in this debate, not just a handful of big government union bosses. we put the power back in the hands of the people. [applause] now, the interesting thing about that is, all along the way, we saw posters that talked about the middle class. let me make another point very clear. we are protecting the middle class. our reforms protect the middle class. think about that.

who pays for the massive expansion of government? it is middle-class taxpayers. overwhelmingly. our reforms stand up and help protect the middle-class. we make a great example of that in wisconsin. for the years prior, for half a decade before i took office, wisconsin saw an average property tax increase of $220 million per year. a $220 million per year increase on average. this past december, after all reforms went into effect, at the end of june, we saw for the first time in years, school property tax levies go down $47 million in wisconsin. [applause] in the years before i took office, the previous administration's policies brought about more than $3 billion worth of tax increases on the people of wisconsin. in contrast, the budget we

passed last year and i signed into law actually lowered the overall tax burden to the people in my state. we proved we put the power back into the hands of the taxpayers and that, more than anything anyone else says, that is truly about protecting the middle- class. in addition to economic and fiscal reform, we took on government reform, as well. it is one of the things that drive the liberals crazy. we demanded that our government work better. i am all for limited government. i believe that smaller government is better government. i also believed in the areas where government has a legitimate role, we should demand that it is done better. for years, i felt there was a choice that we see all too often in political debates between either raising taxes or cutting poor service is -- core services. i think about that. how many of you have a business where you decide you are going to double the amount of cost in your product? people run to your competitor.

people do not say, i am going to cut the quality in half. they go run to someone else, as well. for years, we have allowed that in government. we have said, we need to pass reforms that allow us to do what we do in the private sector, and that is put in place reforms that allow the two to be balanced. we apply those principles to the government so now, we put the power back in the hands of the people and ultimately in the taxpayers. [applause] now, one of the best examples of that is the idea that you can have great schools and re- education opportunities for your children at the same time to protect taxpayers. let me give you some good examples of how we did that. for years, in wisconsin -- many people in the media did not see this. for years, school districts in wisconsin were overwhelmingly forced to buy their health insurance from just one company. it just happened that company

happen to be affiliated with the teachers union. that was under collective bargaining. now, because of our reforms, a school district can bid up their health insurance. they have literally saved tens of millions of dollars. that is money that goes directly into the classroom. that is about being pro- education, not pro-education spending. [applause] let me give you another example that goes beyond finances. about two years ago, two and a half years ago, there was a teacher in the milwaukee public school system who was named one of the outstanding new teachers of the year for the entire state. one of the best new teachers out there. about a week later, she got a notice that she was being laid off. why? how could that be? how could you take one of the best new teachers in the entire state in one of the districts

that needs good teachers, why could you let that person off? -- lay that person off? last in, first out. our reform is something that is important, because i do not think the national media understands this. our reforms end seniority and tenure. we can put the best -- we can hire and fire based on merit. we can pay based on performance. we can put the best in our classrooms and we can keep them there for generations to come. [applause] now, along with those reforms in our budget, we expanded. we lifted the cap and expanded a very successful program in milwaukee beyond the limits that were placed on it before. we make it easier to engage in our charter schools. we did all those wonderful things because ultimately, i

believe, not just for my two children, but for every child in our state, everyone in wisconsin, no matter what's it could they come from, everyone in our state to have access to a greater education. no matter what their background, no matter what their parents may or may not do. every child to have access to great education. this is why we encourage the growth that reforms in charter schools. it is also why we put in place the kaur reforms -- core reforms so that our traditional schools cannot do -- can do as well as private schools. this is on the side of the children and not just on the employers. one of those examples came from when i talked to a superintendent in of the school system in wisconsin. he was talking about health reforms allowed him to put more money behind the teachers. the most important thing he said was this -- he said, i get

to go back to my office and any -- in any to focus on curriculum and not just on grievances. i said, i want everyone to hear what you just said because this is what this is all about. we want to make sure that our educators, the good people -- the teachers and educators who got into the profession because they care about our children and what to do the right thing, but somewhere along the way, they have been taken away by a boss along the way. we want them to teach our kids instead of worrying about grievances and union regulations and collective bargaining. that is what this is all about. [applause] over all, what we did in wisconsin this past year was first and foremost create a better environment for business, for small businesses in our state to make sure the private sector could create more jobs. we put in place long-term structural reforms to balance $

3.6 billion budget deficit in a way they did not raise taxes and that ultimately was structurally sound. most important, we put in place reforms that allow us to make our government work better for the people that we serve. if you think of all that, you say that is a very good campaign for reelection, is it not? we did this in the first year instead of taking four years. your skin before you, -- here i stand before you, someone who may face a recall election. why is that? it is about the money. the other thing i did that really has the big government union bosses upset is something that is fundamentally about freedom. i gave the nearly 300,000 public servants in my state the goodies in men and women who work in our state and local -- public

servants in my state, the good and decent men and women who work in our state and local governments, i said that you get to choose whether or not you want to be in and union. [applause] that is a -- [applause] that is a true free choice act. they have the right to choose whether and that they want to be in a union and no longer by law khanate be forced -- can they be forced to have the union dues taken out of their paycheck. that is what this is all about. [applause] for that school teacher in milwaukee who pays as much as $ 1400, now she or he can say, i do not want that to leave my paycheck. i want to keep that and i want to use it for my pension contribution or maybe my health

care premium or to set aside money for my child to go to college sunday. all of those things are now left up to the individual employee and not the public employee union. that is what this is all about. in the end, there -- they are afraid that if you give workers a choice, they will keep their own money. that is why this last summer -- [applause] the big government union bosses based right here poured in tens of millions of dollars to try to defeat our state senators in the recall election. overall, they were -- the recorded more than $40 million that was spent on more than just a handful of state senate elections. many project there will be as much as $70 million or more spent on the recall election against me, this next spring or summer. the big government union bosses understand that this is not just about to the governor of

wisconsin is. it is not about the momentum on the november 2012 elections. those are factors. more importantly, they understand there is something bigger at stake. what is at stake in this election is fundamentally about courage. you see, i am an optimist. i believe that with your help and help others in my state in this country, i believe we will prevail. when we do, it will not be about electing a governor in the state of wisconsin. it will be about sending a message all over and in the halls of congress in our nation's capitol -- [applause] when we prevail, it will send a powerful message to every politician in america. if you stand up and do the right thing, if you tackle the tough

challenges, if you make the tough choices, there will be men and women in every state and every part of this country who will stand up shoulder to shorter, arm to arm, and say yes, we will support you if you do what is right and courageous. this is that time. [applause] lord help us if we fail. i believe fundamentally having looked at this over time, if we fail -- i am not planning on it. i think this sets aside any courageous act in american politics for at least if not a generation. that is why we must wefail -- we must not fail. [applause] to win, i need your help. i used to be apologetic about

asking for help, but it is not about me. it is not about my bank account or running for another office. this is about freedom and where we go as a state and as america. i need your help in three different ways. first, our most powerful tool is the truth. i need everyone of you here today and everyone else listening at home -- everyone who is concerned about where our state and country is going. i need you to help us spread the truth all across wisconsin. whether you live there, you have family there, a business there, friends, i need people to share the truth and to encourage others to do the same. the choice could not be clearer. in wisconsin, we could either go back to the days of double-digit tax increases, billion dollar budget deficit, and record job losses, or we can choose to move our state forward and seek for their prosperity. i choose to go forward. [applause]

-- seek further prosperity. i choose to go forward. [applause] we need your help, when it comes to the ground game. you see, the big bosses understand what is at stake. they not only poor money into our state, they are shipping in thousands of bodies and even more will come in the spring. the only way we can counter that is grass roots. we need bodies in our state and from across the country to come in and say, we can match that. we can make phone calls. we can do those things and for all of you are interested in that, i am asking you to join our work cause at scottwalker.org. [applause] third, to match the money that came in the center recall elections and even more that

will come from the big government union bosses this summer -- we need your help financially. we need your help financially. the good news is, we have had literally thousands of people from all across my state and the country who have joined our cause at the website and many others who have taken on the new technology and send a text to scott at 647 -- 64274. i have to have my children remind me what that is. 64274. one of the great things about that is that on the last report we filed not long ago, 76% of our contributions came from people who gave us $50 or less. [applause] out of those thousands of dollars, 76% of them gave us $50 or less.

it shows a true grass-roots movement. in every one of -- every one of those dollars, we will put to use. just $1 can be another phone call made. another fire printed. a piece of a radio or television ad. that is why it is so important we have your help along the way to make that possible. now, ultimately, as i said, this election is not just about me and it is not about to the governor of wisconsin is. it is much bigger than that. ideas about whether we can make bold decisions now and into the future -- it is about whether we can make bold decisions now and into the future. i know we can move our state and country forward because we have done 94. we have made that possible. -- we have done it before. we have made that possible. my wife and i love to go to different meetings of around the country and we spoke at a

meeting of federal governors last september. we were in philadelphia. a guy who loved history, i loved going to the historical sites. we got up early and ran over to the national park service's where constitution hall is located. i had never been there before. i had planned to -- i had been to plenty of other sites. many of you know the constitution hall itself is about as big as this half of the podium. looking there, i was absolutely thrilled. growing up loving history, i thought of our founders as supranatural. bigger than life. super heroes. as i stood in that hall looking at those shares, particularly the one with the half rising sun where washington sat, it became fundamentally clear to me that

these were ordinary people, just like all of us here tonight. they were ordinary people who just like president reagan did something extraordinary. in their case, they did not risk their political futures. they risked their lives. with franklin -- franklin said, if we do not hang together, we will hang separately. that is commitment. that is a vacation. these were people who literally risked their lives to give us the freedoms we hold dear today. that reaffirm to me that we are headed down the right path. what has made our country great , literally exceptional, the best country in the world and the history of the world, is that for more than two centuries, in times of crisis, the economic or fiscal or military or spirit jerry lee -- spiritually, the country is kate -- great because there have been men and women of courage who care more about their children

and their grandchildren's feature than about their own political futures. that is what has made america great. let this be one of those moments. let this be our call to action. let this be our time in history when we can stand up and say, we were there. we helped move not only wisconsin for work, we helped move america forward. thank you for your time. thank you for your interest. god bless you. [applause] [cheering]

>> wow, what a powerful message for freedom and the cause of good government. kupper -- thank you governor walker. [applause] now, the final word of the evening, the ronald reagan award. david king, would you please come up to give us the background for the award and then chairman, will you please announce the winner. >> thank you. there was constant people on the stage that make me proud to come from wisconsin. when i was a child, if you called me a cheesehead, you beat them up. this is our 38 the annual conservative political action conference.

at 17, our speaker was ronald reagan. [applause] as conservatives, we look back on our past -- that first conference, the chairman was a friend of many of us. [applause] his executive director who worked to put the conference together was a good friend of mine not only in the american conservative union years, but before that in young americans for freedom. he is watching the show tonight at home. he is unable to travel. i think we have to remember all of these people that came before us. as we think of the ronald reagan award that we present here, everywhere you go they have their reagan award. -- a reagan award. this one came about for a specific reason. the cpac of 1981 was addressed

by the newly inaugurated president, who was giving his first major speech outside the white house upon taking office as president. i sat next to him and he said, you know, a lot of my advisers wanted to know why i was coming here. i told him, i am coming here because i believe -- he said, i can go to dinner is where i can speak to people that give me thousands of dollars. that finance campaigns and to all of that. it is at cpac that i can get together with the volunteers, with the people who made this movement real, with the people who made it possible for me to be president of the united states. i do not ever want that to change. we pledge to him that it would not change. -- pledged to him that it would

not change. we decided that the award should not be one that goes to one of the majors or colonels or generals of the movement. it should not go to one of the leaders of the elected officials. every year, we ought to look to those people that ronald reagan came to this conference to see. the people who work in the trenches. the people whose names you do not hear every day. the people who build this movement and who are this movement. the people who give $50, make the phone calls, walk the streets, not on the doors. make a difference for the candidates that they believe in. the people who get up every morning to do what they can in the unending struggle to make sure that future generations inherit the same country that

they inherited from their forbearers. that is what the ronald reagan award is all about. we consider it perhaps the most important award that we can give. i would like for our current chairman of the american conservative union, because this award -- the nominees can come from anywhere. it is voted on by the board and includes a stipend. ideas presented at this conference. i by to ask our current -- it is presented at this conference. i would like to ask our current chairman to step forward to announce this year's winner. [applause] >> thank you. i appreciate you more than you know. we will learn from you every day. as i said, it is our way to ppreciate the president as

appreciated all of us. it is a rich tradition we are proud to continue. the recipient of this highest honor is selected by the board from nominations. we award a very significant prize, a $10,000 cash prize that comes from our budget. we present the award to someone who exemplifies the very qualities that were just described. your heftier, someone who has fought tirelessly for -- year after year, someone who has fought tirelessly in many different battlefields from the university's campuses and federal courtrooms to the front lines of the rock -- of iraq. i am talking about one candidate. he has come under fire both from liberals in america and from terrorists overseas.

this individual began advancing conservative believes as a young law student at harvard university. he was a pro-let activist in the early 1990's. following harvard, he had a successful rehr -- >> successful career in corporate law. he invests his talents and defending the free speech and religious rights of others. in 2004, he became president of the foundation for individual rights in education. accomplishing more -- many victories. the rights have become tools for all conservatives on campuses. he continues 6 excess -- his success for academic freedom and the alliance defense on, where he won many victories for conservative students. several of them our cpac alumni. last year, this individual

joined the american center for law and justice as senior counsel. he continues his public advocacy and first amendment battles will also confronting more complex foreign and domestic threats to our country. in addition to this remarkable effort, in civilian life, this individual is a captain in the u.s. army reserve. he felt the call of military service following the attacks of september 11. he joined the reserves as an officer in 2006. he enlisted out of a commitment to service their ran deep in his family's history. his own desire to model this virtue for his own children. in 2007, he was deployed to iraq where he served in the third armored cavalry regiment, engaging in direct combat in this dangerous war zone. he was awarded a bronze star.

upon his return, he chronicled his time in a book he co- authored with his wife titled "home and away, a story of family in a time of war." his family demonstrates integrity in every aspect of their lives. with his brilliant educational background and early professional opportunities, there are many endeavors that can be -- he is chosen to devote his talents to serving our country and accomplishing so much at a young age of 43. his -- he is always content to be in the background, to work hard. give others the credit of victory to use his abilities to advance the greater cause rather than promote himself. his humility and strength of character are perhaps what set him apart. more than anything else in our

movement, our country needs more people like him. one of ronald reagan's favorite quotes was, there is no limit to what a man can do or where he can go if he does not my to gets the credit. -- mind who gets the credit. this year's recipient embodies the statement. we recognize him for his contributions to the conservative movement. for his steadfast work of defending the u.s. constitution in the courtroom, fighting for freedom on the battlefield, and living out conservative values, the american conservative union is proud to present david french with the 2012 ronald reagan award. [applause]

[applause] [laughter] [applause] >> i am having a crisis of

confidence because as a lawyer, i am speechless. [laughter] this is a huge surprise. a huge surprise. you know, it is surprising because of all of the people in this room, i am one of the least deserving. let me give honor in this where honor is really do. first, to my god. [applause] every good and perfect gift comes from the lord. this is a good gift. it might even be perfect gift. [laughter] secondly, to my family. they were with me every step of the way when i say to my wife in our apartment in philadelphia when i was president of a marvelous organization, i said, i need to join the army. i need to go to iraq.

she said, but you are old. [laughter] then she was walking down independence hall with my son, austin, who was younger at the time, and they were walking in front of the independence hall and you have seen the signatures of the signers of the declaration of independence. my son said, who are those people? see said, they were the founders of the country. -- she said, they were the founders of the country. they are patriots. i am missing something, i think. [laughter] he said, what is a patriot? she said to him, a petrie is somebody who loves his country more than they let themselves. -- a patriot is somebody who loves his country more than they love themselves. are we patriots, he said? she said, yes, we are.

with tears in her eyes, she said you can join, you have to join. [applause] this next goes to people who deserve far more honor than i will, my brothers that i served with in iraq. some of them who were very dear to me, who are no longer with us, but in a loving embrace of their savior. sorry. i wish they could see this and participate in this. finally, to you. i go to court and a battle for religious liberty and for free speech so that you can spread your message. it is a message of hope for the hopeless, by lifting people up, by depending and guarding the engine of free enterprise that has lifted more people out of

poverty than any other human system that has ever existed. by descending -- defending the defenseless. [applause] abroad, defending the innocent victims of g. todd -- jihad. fathers to the fatherless by protecting the family and the country that is the backbone of everything we are. through adoption, we have a child who was born in ethiopia denied by helicopter flew into iraq. [applause] but, so, i want to give honor where honor is really do. the people in this room, the giants of the movement that is the be part of america.

-- beating hart -- heart of america. i'm surprised. i am humbled. i am very grateful. and he was so much. -- thank you so much. [applause] >> what a way to end a wonderful evening by giving credit and praise to a genuine american hero. thank you very much. thank you for being a part of this wonderful evening. with that, this concludes the evening. god bless you. [captioning performed by

national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2012]

>> tomorrow we will have more live coverage from the cs -- cpac conference starting in the afternoon. we will hear from the texas senator, the chair of the senatorial committee. he is expected to speak at a few minutes past 3:00. grover norquist, the president of americans for tax reform will take the stage at 4:00.

we will get the results from the presidential straw poll. a speech by former alaska governor ann 2008 vice- presidential nominee, sarah palin. three of the candidates spoke to today to taxation of seize back here in washington. we begin with rick santorum -- 3 of the candidates spoke at see spec -- cpac today in washington. we begin with rick santorum. >> life is so much fun and so filled with humor. recently, a conservative, a liberal, and a moderate walked into the bar. the bartender says, hello, mitt. [laughter]

people ask why i support rick santorum. i have known him for 16 years. he is a dear friend. i have never won a dollar on a golf course. he is a competitor. he is a fighter. the minute i saw him speak, i saw authenticity. what a nice contrast in the debates. the rick singh to -- the authenticity of the rick santorum. this is a spirit that we need to win. he has the three runs -- legs of the reagan stool. i am not supporting him because he is my friend and i like him. he loves god and his family. i am not supporting him because i agree with all of his policies, because i do not. guys with big egos think they have to have their way all the time.

here is why i support him. not only does he have the best chance of winning, but maybe the only chance of winning. we cannot continue to support these experienced wonderful war horses, these veterans. it did not work with bob dole or john mccain. it did not work with al gore or with perry. the democrats bring in the fresh faces. and they bring obama from the on nowhere. [laughter] -- beyond nowhere, . [laughter] rick santorum was described by a blocker -- blogger. newt gingrich is a visionary. paul is an ideologue. mitt romney is an executive. rick santorum is a servant. as he goes around and speaks --

[laughter] this is what resonates. when he gave his iowa speech, one correspondent said, this will be the first time in history that the republicans won a blue collar candidate. -- run a blue-collar kendeigh. -- candidate. he won in pennsylvania because he reaches out to the blue- collar worker. the grandson of a coal miner has added bandage over someone who makes a lot of money. i make a lot of money. the reality is, the grandson of a coal miner has a huge opportunity to identify with those guys out there working hard. the other thing i love about rick santorum, you will never hear him say anything divisive. nothing is ever divisive. he will challenge your position, but he brings people together. he does not talk about their rich and the poor and the middle like they are three

different glasses. maybe i am still in his speech, but we are all in this together. -- stealing his speech, but we are all in this together. rich, poor, catholic, whatever. that is what makes each of us have to work hard to achieve. it reminds me of a little story. a fellow runs his car into the ditch, buries his hubcaps. he calls his former to bring a horse. the farmer says, pulled. nothing happens. pull, homer. that is pretty impressive, but why do you have to call your horse four names before he will do anything? he said, homer is blind. [laughter]

i have the greatest honor to introduce the man who bring all four of us -- who brought all four of us. i wanted to welcome the next president of the united states, rick santorum. [applause] ♪ thank you. -- >> thank you. thank you. [applause] thank you. [cheering] thank you. thank you very much. [applause]

you are eating into my time. thank you. thank you. we are not going to sing. it is great to be here at cpac. in other thing, i will not be telling any jokes. thank you for that wonderful reception for not just me, but for most of my family that is here. the folks that are walking in with me and walking this journey with me are here with me today because this is who i am. i want to introduce, most of you have seen them before, but this is my wife, karen. the rock upon which i stand. sarah, maria, patrick, daniel, and john. [applause]

of course, the one that is not here with us, that is home and recuperating and doing amazingly well, thanks to all of your prayers for our little girl. i came here right after the 2008 election. i have been coming to a lot of cpac inventions over the years. after that election, made the statement -- i said conservatism did not fail our country. conservatism -- conservatives failed conservatism. that is what i really believed then. we lost heart. as conservatives, we lost heart. we listen to the voices who said that we had to abandon our principles and our values to get things done to win. we hear those same voices today.

we have to learn our lesson. we should no longer believe that we need to compromise, do what is politically reasonable, and go out and push someone forward who can win. i think we have learned our lesson. the lesson we've learned is that we will longer abandon and apologize for the principles that made this country great for a hollow victory in november. [applause] the other thing we should recognize, as conservatives and tea party folks, if we are not just -- we are not just wings of the republican party. we or the republican party. -- we are the republican party. [applause]

folks, i have been here before. we know each other. we have worked together in the vineyards. we have taken on the tough battles that confront this country. i know you. you know me. that is important. we have worked together. i do not think experience is a bad thing in this election. knowing the people who are the conservative leader said to have worked in the vineyards for decades. knowing the people who bring the wellspring of ideas to conservatism is important. as it was often said, policies are personnel. personnel is what makes it. knowing that -- those voices that we listen to in the past were all people that we brought in. they told us, well, we cannot stand by those principles. ladies and gentlemen, as president of the united states,

we will surround ourselves in this administration with people who share our values, who are committed to the principles that made this country great. leaders of the conservative movement. [applause] we know there is a lot of excitement here. this election is about very big things. this is not just about jobs, although it is about jobs. we obviously need to do something about jobs in this country. we put forward an economic plan that the "wall street journal" calls supply-side economics for the working man. we want to make sure every american has the opportunity to rise. if the letter goes down, it is not just those who might be voting for us, but yes, the very poor. the people in this country who have been suffering and left behind. we want to create an opportunity for all of them. blue-collar americans. the working poor. to rise in society.

we put together a plan that reinvigorate the manufacturing base of our economy and create opportunity for people to be able to rise again in america. that is important. that is important. it is important we tackle this debt that we have. a debt that is crushing america and our children. i put forward another plan that says we are going to cut five trillion dollars in five years. every year we will spend less money than the year before. until the budget is balanced. no more cuts in the rate of growth. we know it is about big things.

in the last few weeks. every speech i have given, from its 381 town hall meetings in iowa, i talked about founding principles. this campaign is going to be about a vision. it is about who we are as americans, because in essence that is what is at stake. it is an election about what kind of a country you are going to lead for the next generation. are we a country that believes as our founders did, that our rights don't come from the government, they come from a much higher authority? [applause] there are those in our country and those in the oval office who believe that is not the case. they believe that rights to come

from the government, and they have gone around convincing the american public that they can give you rights. the most important one they have been able to shut down the throats of the american public was the right to health care, the right to health care, obamacare. we see what happens when government gives you rights. when government gives you rights, government can take away those rights. one government gives you rights, they can course you -- coerce you enter exercising the rights they have given. i have talked about how obamacare will crush economic freedom and make people dependent on government for the most important things, their very lives. as a result, government will own you because you have to pay tribute to washington.

one of the reasons i am in this race, the major reason i am in this race, it is because i think that obamacare is a game changer for america. [applause] market thatcher said when she left the prime ministership of england that she was never able to accomplish what reagan accomplished. once people have that dependency, they are never really free again. we have seen this play out the last few weeks. we have seen the president of the and i is that it's not only tell you what insurance coverage you should have, how much you should pay, but he is now telling the catholic church that they are forced to pay for things that are against their basic teachings, against their first amendment rights. interestingly enough, here is what they are forcing them to do -- in an insurance policy, they or forcing them to pay for

something that costs a few dollars. is that what insurance is for? the foundational idea that the government tells you that you have to pay for everything as a business, things that are not really things you need insurance for, and still forcing on something that is not a critical economic need, when you have economic distress where you would need insurance, but forcing them even of the more to do it for minor expenses. ladies and gentlemen, this is the kind of coercion we can expect. it is not about contraception. it is about economic liberty, i guess about freedom of speech, freedom of religion --. it is about freedom of speech, freedom of religion. it is about government control of your lives, and it has got to stop. [applause]

this isn't the only place that president obama has tried to control your lives. one of the favorite things of the left is to use your sentimentality, and your proper understanding and belief that we are stewards of this earth and we have a responsibility to head off a beautiful earth to the next generation. they use that and they have used it in the past to try to scare you into supporting radical ideas on the environment. they tried it with this idea, this politicization of an idea called man-made global warming. president obama, you may

remember, tried to pass cap-and- trade and tried to get control not only of the health care system but of the energy industry, the manufacturing industry, two big sectors of this economy, and using this facade of man-made global warming. i stood up and fought against those things. why? because they will destroy the very foundation of prosperity in our country. you look at any country in the world, you look at their energy consumption and the cost of energy and the quality of life, their standard of living, the more energy consumption, the higher the standard of living. that is just the bottom line. we need in america, if we are going to fuel a great and vibrant economy, we need affordable energy. this administration has gone out and not only has attacked us with cap-and-trade and global warming, but now that that has been slowed in the dustbin of

history, they are going after hydro fracking. i come from pennsylvania. we are doing a little bit of that in pennsylvania, thank god. [applause] and guess what? of course, now that we are doing fracking near population centers, the bogeyman comes out. ooh, look at what is going to do to you. there have been wells fracking in the united states. 700,000, 800,000. where is all the noise? they it scare you and intimidate you to trust them and give them more power. we need somebody who is willing to go out on these big issues of the day and draw contrasts. we are not going to win this election, ladies and gentlemen, because the republican candidate as the most money to beat up there on and win the election

-- their opponent and win the election. [applause] we are not going to win this election with overt or lopsided many advantages. we won't have one in the fall. president obama will have more money, whoever our nominee is. it is going to take ideas, mission, contrast, a record of accomplishment that can go against the failed policies of barack obama. that's the winner. [applause] let's just take a look at in the republican field. who has the boldest contrast, the record they can run on? who has the old plan -- the bold plans to turn this country around and support the institutions that provide the foundation for our country, faith and family? who has that strong record and

that contrast? [applause] ok. i guess i can quit now, since you are convinced of that. [laughter] on the issue of obamacare, who has a record of supporting all the savings accounts, tort reform, bottom-up consumer- driven health care? who has supported the stepchild of obamacare, the person in massachusetts who had the largest government-run healthcare system in the united states? someone who would simply give that issue away in the fall? give the issue a way of government control of your health?

who would be the better person to go after the obama administration on trying to control the energy and manufacturing sector of our economy and try to dictate to you what lights to turn on and what cars to drive? would it be someone who bought into man-made global warming and a post the first -- imposed the first carbon cap in massachusetts, the first in the country? would it be someone who took on the other big issue of government control of our economy, the government control the financial services sector? we see everybody up on stage at the debate complaining about dodd-frank. two of the three candidates supported the wall street bailout, the predecessor of which dodd-frank was based upon. who would provide a clear contrast? believing in the conservative and vision, bottom-up, free

people, free markets, not government dependency, government control. we're not going to win with money. we are going to win with contrast, win with ideas, when by making -- win by making barack obama and his failed policies the issue in this race. [applause] we won in 2010 because conservatives rallied. they were excited about the contrasts, excited about the candidates were put forth in that election. that is why we won. we always talk about how do we get the moderates. why would an undecided voter

vote for a candidate who the party is not excited about? [applause] we need conservatives now to rally for conservatives to go into november, excite the conservative base, and defeat barack obama in the fall. [applause] as i close, i would just say this -- when i started the speech, i referred to where our rights came from, and that is in the declaration of independence. i know a lot of folks like to focus on the constitution, and the constitution is obviously the operator's manual for america. it is the how of america, and it is essential that we return our government to the constraints of the constitution.

but the why of america, who we are, is in the declaration. "we hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal and are in doubt by their creator with certain -- endowed by our creator with certain inalienable rights." the one thing government is to do is to protect those rights so that you can for families, churches, community organizations, civic groups, schools, and all the great and just society from the bottom up. that is the conservative vision for america. that's who we are. at the end of that declaration, there's a phrase. the signers signed the declaration with this pledge -- state bank pledged their lives, their fortune, and there sigrid -- under th -- they pledged their lives, their fortune, and their sacred honor.

man and woman steps forward every day and put the uniform of the military on every day. [applause] i am not asking for your fortune, although if you go to ricksantorum.com -- [laughter] a piece of that fortune would be very helpful. but i am asking for your honor. honor is a term that is not used in america very often anymore, but it is exactly what is at stake. we are stewards of our great inheritance, and it is our responsibility to shepherd that inheritance and make it a greater and richer one for the next generation.

if we fail to do that, we have failed our duty and our honor as americans. this is our opportunity. many generations come and go in america living in inconsequential times. you are blessed to live at a time when america needs you. [applause] please walk out of this gathering, choose the candidate that you believe is the right person to lead this country not just to victory, but to the changes that are necessary for the victory to be won so you can say "i have done my duty, i have kept my honor." thank you, and god bless.

[applause] ♪ >> following his remarks, he took part in a meet and greet. he also made remarks about thec pac conference. this is about 25 amendments. >> we are very encouraged and

enthused by the support we are getting. we are hoping to build on things here. we are hoping to take that back on the road. >> i have no idea about -- you have a comment about that? >> know. >> what are you trying to get out of this event? how do you position yourself? >> gov. romney running negative ads instead of talking about what he needs to do. as i said on this speech today. republicans are not going to

have money to outspend the president 5-1. people here conservatives around the country are going to look for somebody who can go toe to toe with president obama. hopefully -- that is the kind of canada we should look at. i think we have the best opportunity to do that. >> to talk about how they have allowed you to show your social conservative. >> as far as i am concerned this has nothing to do with social conservatism. it is basic fundamental liberty. you can pick the issue. what of -- what the president is trying to do is force a

religious organization that has first amendment rights to do something that violates those rights. it is not that people should not have the access -- this has nothing to do with access. this is about having somebody pay for something that should not be in the insurance plan anyway. it is not even an insurable items. this is something that is affordable and available. you do not need insurance for these types of relatively small expenditures. this is somebody trying to impose their value with the arm of the government doing that.

>> what does the white house and needed to do to satisfy conservatives and canada it's like you? >> very simple. understand it is a clear intrusion. there is no great value gained when it comes to health care. can. [unintelligible] >> forcing insurance companies to begin with -- [unintelligible] >> a lot people say this is a war on religion. what would you do to fight the war on religion?

>> this is the government trying to use its power. [unintelligible] >> we are getting everyone out. [unintelligible] [unintelligible]

it like to be twitter-bombed? twitter-bob? -- twitter-bombed?

[unintelligible] >> thank you, senator. [indistinct chatter]

>> where are we going? >> right here. >> who is the photographer? >> you guys have to move over. nobody can get out. >> people have their own cameras? is this your camera?

>> hello, i'm from virginia. i just want you to know i fought very hard to get a ride in on our ballot. if i can help you in any way. [unintelligible] >> thank you very much. >> thank you for running.

[unintelligible] >>, and there we go.

thank you. >> we are just here to tell you how much we are supporting you. [unintelligible] >> you are going to write it through.

>> hello. [unintelligible] >> there you go. thank you.

>> thank you. >> their ego. >> hello, nice to meet you. >> all right. thank you. >> so nice to meet you. >> thank you so much.