the flight to >> also campaigning in ohio, gop

presidential candidate rick santorum. the former senator gives the keynote speech at the gop lincoln dinner in eastlake, ohio. [applause] >> we are so lucky to have this great leadership in the party. we are delighted to be back and lake county. in just a moment, we will all give a great lake county will come to the next president of the united states. [applause] this is exciting. we have known rick and karen for almost 20 years. this is a true conservative with accomplishments who has done things. this is somebody who on the senate floor fought against the entitlements when it was not popular.

he was a leader. he took the lead in that. it was rick santorum when we were fighting to change welfare and we had bill clinton who really did not want to do it. it was rick santorum who was on the floor day after day and very articulately explained that this was the way to help people help themselves. it was unfair to keep them down. he believes there is opportunity. there should be opportunity for every american. it was rick santorum -- at was there to help him on partial birth abortion. we fought that battle time and time again. we finally got a president to sign the bill -- george bush. [applause] this is a man of solid core values. he has never changed.

he has never flip-flop. we have been with him. he is a good person. we know rick and karen very well. they are great family. wonderfulsolutely people. when we select the president of the united states, there is a lot of things that go into consideration. character above all else is what is most important. what is important is that whoever is in the oval office, we know there are going to have to do some tough things. the next president will have to deal with entitlements. he will have to deal with all of the different tough issues.

the federal budget deficit this current president has driven up so much. and that person has to be somebody who can inspire us and who can lead us. although we know we need to do some of these things, they are hard to do. what i have seen on the campaign trail, this man connects with people. you will see it tonight. this man is a leader. this man is a person who is truly as abraham lincoln said, appeal to the better angels of our cells. this is a man who has in my opinion clearly the best chance of winning the election in the fall. is it not important to be barack obama in the fall? [applause] ladies and gentlemen, a man who will appeal because of his values and because of who he is

and his background. he will appeal to people we used to call reagan democrats. he will win on tuesday with your help, my next project my friend, the next president of the united states, rick santorum. [cheers and applause] >> thank you. well, thank you very much. it is great to be here in ohio. almost and pennsylvania. clothes. is great to be here in eastern ohio.

let me thank you for that great introduction and his great service to the people of ohio over many years. thank you. and fran, i hear the same thing every time i go out on the road. we hear from her. they always say less rick, more karen. it is the same thing with mike. just his family alone is an army. it is great to have you here with us. thank you dale for your help and support and pitching in to help us in the state of ohio. i always talk about the early part of our campaign. all throughout 2011 when we were at 1% in polls. up until about september he did not even put my name on the polls.

it was probably a blessing. it would probably discourage me if he had put my name on the polls. we went out and had folks who believe in us across the country and help us in states to get on the balance. a month or two before iowa -- ohio was one of those states. i want to thank dale and so many of you for being with us when the rest of the world had not quite caught on yet to what we have to say and our message and what we bring to the table in this country. i just want to say to the people here in northeastern ohio, it is great to be here. it feels like home. pittsburgh and cleveland and the areas around it -- the reason we hate each other so much is because we are so much alike. that is a good thing to have that rivalry between siblings.

we really do enjoy going after the browns here. i know you occasionally go after the steelers in pittsburgh. i know. i am trying to get votes here, not lose them. but i was a steelers fan before i ran for president. i cannot help it. it does feel like home. it is great to be with you. i thank you for the outpouring of support. i am very honored that you will come. i talk about my roots a lot. i talk about my roots growing up in western pennsylvania and what it was like growing up in a steel town. you know what it is like growing up in small towns, steel towns, cities built on industry and shipping and all the industrial revolution that occurred between these two great cities that helped build america. there is a lot of pride in people here.

a lot of people who stand on the shoulders of ancestors who created and gave so much. the sweat of their brow, their intellect, to build great companies and work in those companies. i always talk about america is that country that is different than any other country in the world because we were built from the bottom up. we were not ruled by a big powerful central government are a king or emperor. that is not how america was built. we were built with a government that was supposed to be lamented that believe in free people. they believed in the integrity and value of the family and church in the local school and the community organizations that were there to take care of each other. we got in trouble we did not call it 1800 number from washington to help us.

we asked our neighbor who went to the church, the school, the employer. we were all in this together. i was talking about the declaration of independence and those words "we hold these truths to be self-evident, all men are created equal. we are endowed by our creator to run alienable rights." that phrase that we believe all people have dignity. people can chase their dreams. we separated ourselves from england. we were subjects of the crown. we serve the sovereign. after that moment, that signing, at the end of that signing of the document, our

founders wrote "we pledge to each other." that is what america is about. it is about more than just yourself. we pledge to each other. there is a bond here in cleveland and northeastern ohio. there is a pond. there are a lot of things the bayou together. there are bonds that allow you to live your lives without relying upon some big powerful government to give you things. it is the last thing the people in america want. it is the last thing. here we are. we are here at a time when i think as many of you know -- the reason i think there's so much and extend society is not just because of the high unemployment rate. that is part of it. it is not just the high gas prices. that is part of it. it is about something more fundamental going on. freedom. what america has always been about. limited government and free people. folks taking care of themselves and building great institutions

in cleveland. the thing the cleveland clinic would excess of the government ran the health-care system pretty loss 100 years? no. right? [applause] here is the. -- he would not know any better. if the government took things over and just said we will make sure everybody is treated equally rigid we have resources at all these things. we will make sure everybody is treated fairly. we are not going to let people climb and succeed. we will take their money and redistribute it to others. that is the attitude of this president. read his speeches. read where he talks about -- one thing we need to do is to redistribute wealth. that should be part of the constitution. this is a president who does not understand that communities

like cleveland and northeastern ohio were belts by people -- were built by people who are not being told what to do. they had ambition, drive, and able to build powerful institutions that change the world. that is america. it is not a government that rules you. it is one that understands the greatness of america lies in its free people. when you look at this race -- [applause] -- this race is about big things. we need a leader who goes out and talks about big things. he is not just talking about

little changes, little adjustments. i will be a better manager than the management that is in charge right now. we do not need another manager of washington. we need somebody who has a track record of going down to washington and shaking things up. i have gotten grief in the media because i am a little bit too passionate. i say things that sometimes offend people. [cheers and applause] i talk about government dictating to us and suggest that might not be -- a little snobbish for people to do that. i talk about how we have to have traditional values in this country and respect for the dignity of life and respect for freedom of religion in this country. [cheers and applause]

it is not just that that i talk about. i go out and talk about our important it is that we have a health care system that is not run as it will be in two years. it is not run by a group or panel of people in washington d.c. where going to decide how things -- what benefits you're going to get. how it is laid out onto the lot. there are all sorts of regulations and things to come as you see from washington. 700 times and obamacare, the word "the secretary shall" appears. 700 times. we saw one of them recently, but there are more on the way. government will manage to. -- government will manage you. margaret thatcher -- after she

left she said i was never able to accomplish where reagan accomplished. she said the reason she was never able to turn great britain back from socialism was people's dependency on the national health care system. once they have your health, they have got you. that is why they want it so badly. [applause] i believe from the very start of my career in politics, back when no one was talking about health care -- health care was not that issue. i was talking about how the health-care system in this country is not a private health care system. the consumers are insulated from

the cost of health care and economic decisions. they do not understand the cost of anything. it is all managed by insurance companies are employers or the government. i came forward with the conservative idea along with another person you may have heard of his name is john. [applause] we claim him, too. he grew up in pittsburgh. caish and i introduced the bill that is the basis for any health reform that will happen in america. it is to put you, not obama or romney, but you in charge of your own health care. that is the key. [applause]

obamacare is public enemy number one against freedom in america, and it must be repealed. [applause] that is not enough. that is not enough to get the economy going and keep our freedom. it is a big step, but we have to get government out of regulating every aspect of our lives. i do not know how many businesses i have talked to have told me they're not growing their business. they are afraid to expand. they are afraid to hire anybody because of what government is going to do to the next. i had a man walked up to me a few weeks ago who said, i was a businessman. i lived through clinton and bush. they did not bother me. i could run my business, no

problems. but this president, i had to get involved. i spend half of my days complying with new regulations telling me how to run my business. the president of the united states last year alone passed over 150 regulations that cost the economy over $100 million a year. that is 2.5 times the normal rate. this is a president who thinks he knows best, not just to run your health care, but if you are a farmer, manufacturing, insurance agent, a banker, he is going to tell you how to run every aspect of your business. whatever it is, they know better. they are going to micro-manage just because you are incapable of freedom. that is what they believe.

that is where the kings, emperors, and queens of old believed. but we rebelled against those leaders and stood up for freedom. we said we believe we are capable of building a great society and a great economy. i put forth an economic plan that said every single obama regulation that costs the economy more than $100 million a year will be repealed on day one of my administration. [applause] we need to stimulate this economy not by spending more federal dollars but by letting you keep more of your dollars. that is what my tax plan does. [applause]

it goes to who you believe in. president obama believes that stimulus package was government allocating resources, borrowing money and giving it to certain groups they favored, that would help the economy. it failed. it failed miserably. what do they do? they try to do more of it. the answer was that bill because it was not big enough. it failed because it was not the way america solves its problems. america solves its problems by taking on the responsibility themselves, giving them the ability and resources, getting government out of the way so they can take the entrepreneurial spirit, the belief in themselves, pursuing their dreams, building things,

working at things, instead of building a dependency programs so people rely more on thewe've put a tax plan in place, a corporate tax plan that cuts theis that 35% today, the highest in the world as of april 1. we take the corporate tax that is 35%. the effective rate of the tax if you look at all the corporate about 18%. why is that? there are so many exemptions and loopholes. companies spend all sorts of money trying to avoid paying taxes. they hire a lot of people and spend a lot of money to structure their business not to optimize the business but to optimize their tax return. we say let's get rid of all the junk, cut the corporate tax to 17.5%. net profits, everybody pays the same. [applause]

expense everything. simple. the smallest business and the biggest business spin the same amount of time on their tax forms. that levels the playing field for the little guy who does not have all those folks who can restructure his business to optimize his tax return. this is pro-growth. it does not have a huge impact on revenues to the federal government. in fact, it will increase it because businesses will be more efficient and grow. one sector of the economy, i take a different tactic. "the wall street journal" called power plants supply side economics for the working man. i believe in reducing taxes. the income tax for individuals, we cut the top rate down to 28%. if it was good enough for reagan, it is good enough for me. we've simplified the code.

we throw it out and replace it with five deductions. children, charity, pension, health care, and housing. everything else goes. make a very simple code. maybe there is a reason why the other guys do not want to make the code simple. i actually do my own taxes. i always felt if i was going to be a member of congress voting on tax bills, i should have to do my own taxes as penalty for doing the things we do with the tax code. see what everybody else in america has to go through. [applause] i believe in practicing what you preach. i believe in going out there and saying what i believe in doing what i say i am going to do. when it comes to the tax code, i will talk about how we will create an incentive to bring

the jobs that bill northeastern ohio and southwestern pennsylvania -- that built northeastern ohio and southwestern pennsylvania. it created an economic boon for this area and put america on the map economically. we have people in this country who do work hard, who want to work. they came here because they wanted the freedom and opportunity. i do not know if any of you have gone back to the countries from which ancestors came. i have. my ancestors came from northern italy. i have gone back. they are great folks, great food, but they are different from my grandfather when he came to this country. my grandfather did not want to be ruled, just like your ancestors. they did not want a government

telling them what to do. they wanted their freedom. they wanted to be able to work hard. he did work hard. they wanted their hard work to pay off with something better and their community. that is why they came here. our dna is different from the rest of the world. the people from all around the world who see america as a beacon of hope because america rewards hard work. america allows people to rise if they have a good idea, stick to it, and persevere. that is what america is about. that is why people come here. you are the descendants of those people. that is why we work harder than any other country in the world. we work longer hours. when i go back and visit my relatives, they are nothing like my grandfather. in many respects, they were

happy being ruled, not having to work so hard. but that is not who we are. when we see a government fixated on growing dependency programs, the size of government, encouraging states to sign that more people on medicaid and food stamps, they are doing things that the road -- erode the foundation, the dna americans have that is different from the rest of the world. my economic program is not going to be measured on how many people receive government benefits. it could be measured by how many people get off of government benefits and get back to work. [applause] we say to all of those folks who

want an opportunity to rise again, the folks who feel like they have been paddling alone because their skills that does not match up to a lot of the knowledge-based economy jobs and opportunities those create -- yes, we do need people to go to schools of higher education and get degrees that are important science, engineering, math for all the ways we can innovate in other areas and not just those. we need that. we also have to make sure the folks who do not have the aptitude, the desire, or have a whole different set of skills, that they have opportunity to apply their skills in meaningful work that creates something and gives them a chance to be able to rise in society. [applause]

we did that here in eastern ohio and western pennsylvania. we helped build america. we have the skill sets. we have the work ethic. all we need is an opportunity to prove it. right now we have an uneven playing field. the jobs have been shipped out of this country to china and mexico and other places because american made manufacturers uncompetitive. it costs 20% more to do business as a manufacturer in america as it does with our top trading partners combined. in some countries, it is less. the point is we have our manufacturers start a 20% differential, excluding labor costs. even if we pay the same wages,

we would still be at a competitive disadvantage. people say, why are you treating manufacturing different from the rest of the places in the economy? because i cut the manufacturing tax. i would 0 it out. [applause] -- i would zero it out. the reason i do is because other businesses do not compete against china. manufacturers compete against countries that want the jobs and will do everything they can to get the jobs because it creates wealth and opportunities to rise. it creates a national security platform where we are making the things we consume in this

country. in this dangerous world, it is an important thing to do. we are going to cut the corporate tax to 0. we're going to say, if you center jobs overseas and made money overseas -- if you send your jobs overseas and made money overseas, we want you to bring it back. right now if you bring it back, is taxed at 35%. under our plan, it will not be taxed at 35%. if you bring that money back and invest it in america, you will not pay any taxes. you will see a boom in manufacturing jobs and construction in eastern ohio. [applause] we have a lot of work to do to get the economy growing again. energy is a big part of that and part of growing manufacturing. every time you go to the pulp and see a 0 on the pulp --

pump, remember 0 for obama. that is why you are paying the extra zeroes. we could do something about energy. look at what is going on with marcella shale. look at what is happening with the jobs being created. gas prices. seven years ago, it was $13. it is now $2.13. why? supply and demand. you create more supply, prices go down. this is basic. the president says drilling does not work. he came to cleveland and said drill, baby, droll does not work.

unfortunately, a lot of people applauded him. that is sad. if you take economics 101, it is negative supply and demand. president obama's may take 50.5 because he only talks about demand and supply. one creates jobs, increasing supply. the other increase quality of life in america. look at any chart and look at energy consumption. look at the quality of life. the higher the energy consumption, the higher the quality of life. that is in any country in the world. the president says we want to reduce your energy consumption. we want to drive up the cost of energy. understand what he is saying, that we need to settle for less. we need to accept america in decline.

the government will allocate your resources. it will deny you the opportunity to the ninth -- to go out and get the resources, as the president has done by saying no to offshore drilling, drilling in alaska, to building the keystone pipeline. we need a president who will say yes to energy production and lower cost of energy in this country. [applause] we have a plan to get this economy humming. we can do all of those things. we also have to understand america is built from the bottom up. as much as what we need to do is grow the economy, of course we need to balance the federal

budget. i will balance within five years. that is a promise i will make to you. that is a promise i will keep. [applause] i have pledged to cut $5 trillion over five years. the best gov. romney can come up with is $2.5 trillion in five years. we will take on the battle of entitlements. we will adopt paul ryan's budget. we will make sure we cut out federal departments, eliminate no child left behind and education at the federal level and send it back to the local communities and parents where it belongs. [applause]

if we do all of those things, grow the economy, cut back on spending, and do not focus on rebuilding the foundation of our country, i am not sure we will be successful. a lot of folks say talk about the economy and jobs. i will, i do. but we are kidding ourselves if we think a country where 40% of the children are born out-of- wedlock, where parents are working heroically to raise children in single-parent homes but have a failure rate economically five times what two parents have, now approaching 40% in america, we are kidding ourselves if we do not talk about doing things to help restore and encourage the american family. marriage, fathers taking

responsibility for children, building networks of support around families at the local level. that is how we were able to have government limited, because families were strong. churches were strong. volunteer and civic organizations were strong. people in the committee looked out for each other. you know that. -- people in the community looked out for each other. you know that. look at areas of cleveland. were you do not see dad's gonna do you see freedom and opportunity? do you see jobs? do you see police? do you see government everywhere? that is the reality. it has to be a community effort. it has to be a community effort across this country.

we have to talk about it. people get upset, why are you talking about this? because that is what allows america to be free. we did not need a big, strong powerful government because we were able to take care of ourselves. that is now harder. we need a president who will go out and tell the truth, be honest with the public about the challenges we face. there was a book written by charles murray that talked about the breaking apart of white america. he wrote about white america because he wanted to focus on that particular element of society and talk about what is going on in that particular place. he has written books about the minority communities in the past.

what he said was that those at the top end of the income scale actually do have strong families and communities. those who are having children out of wedlock are feeling and falling apart, those communities and families are struggling in america. he said those who are doing well in society practice all the things i have talked about, building strong families and communities, but they are too timid to preach it because they get criticized for saying what we know is true. the brookings institute did a study. they said if you do three things, you are guaranteed in american not to be in poverty. what are those three things? number one, work. surprise. a liberal think-tank, that is a big deal.

[laughter] give them credit. give it up to the brookings institution. [applause] now liberals understand you have to work. this is good. no. two, a graduate from high school -- number two, a graduate from high school. number three, get married and do not have children until you get married. [applause] if you do those three things, the chances you will ever be in poverty in america is 2%. if you do those three things, the chances you will at some point in time in your life be earning money at the top half of income earners in america is 77% chance that you will be at

the top half of income earners in america. if you fail to do just one of those three things, the chances you will be in poverty is 74%. the chance that you will ever in your lifetime earn at the top half of earnings in america is 4%. go ahead. we can talk about cutting taxes. we can talk about balancing the budget. but we're kidding ourselves unless we have an understanding of what really makes america work. that is faith in families and communities that build strong networks of support for those families. [applause] finally, i have to talk about this.

so much is going on overseas. this president has got to stop apologizing for america. [applause] his gut reaction is always to blame us, to blame our men and women in uniform. stop it, mr. president. stand up for our troops. stand up for this country. [applause]

we are a beacon of hope that your ancestors came to this country. hope not just a beacon of for the people who came here. we are a light for the world to follow. we should not apologize for being that light. [applause] others look to us for the values we represent, to the freedoms, to limited government, too strong social institutions. they say, we can try to build that in our country. we can be like america. this president, instead saying we made a mistake here and there, look at the world because of america. we did not only change this

country. when our founders wrote the declaration of independence in 1776, life expectancy in most of the world was 35 to 40 years of age. it had been that way for thousands of years. no country was going to give their subjects freedom to pursue their dreams. no one was going to respect the dignity of every human life and allow them to achieve great success without the government confiscating it or coopting it. then american gamelan. in 200 years, life expectancy more than doubled. we went from an agrarian society that had been the case for two dozen years to an industrial age, a technology revolution -- for 2000 years to an industrial age, a technology revolution. it continues. it did not just benefit us.

it benefits the world. for those in the world to have added to it, it is because they followed our lead. this is something to be proud of. the world economy, trade which is so vital to our ability to keep our standard of living hike and create opportunities for others around the world to improve their standard of living, why did that not happen before? did you ever think about that? why did it not happen before america? because america is the only country that has a military that patrols the seas. that did not do it for their benefit. did not confiscate things as people sailed the seven seas. we did it for everybody's benefit. yet we go around and think we have made so many mistakes. the world is a prosperous place

because america's navy is on the high seas protecting goods flowing around the world. do not apologize for that. [applause] what does the president want to do? pullback, cut the military. when i was born, the military comprised 60% of the federal budget. it now comprises 17%. what is the one area this president has cut, the military. twice. he is about to do it a third time. he creates new entitlements. with obamacare. when it comes to protecting our economic interests and our

national security interests, creating the opportunity for economic prosperity around the world and liberty and folks who will love us and trade with us, and allied with us, the president does not want anything to do with that. it is about building his power base in america. do you think when we pull out of east asia that the chinese will be good about shipping goods to and fro, unless it is to their benefit? we do not even think about these things. this is what we take for granted. we take so much for granted that is being whittled away. if this administration is reelected, it will be lost. at the end of the declaration of independence, our founders

wrote that they pledged to each other their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor. they did that any time when most rational beings thought they were signing a death warrant, execution for treason against the most powerful military in the world. but they believed so fervently in freedom, in god-given rights, in the dignity of man in the potential of human spirit being unleashed in the world that they were willing to take that risk, risked everything. here we are. we stand on their shoulders and on generations who did just

that, missed their lives, their fortune, and their honor. risked their lives, their fortune, and honor. what made them the greatest generation? is it because they require character or love this country more than you do? no, is that they eventually recognize that freedom was at stake. they did what was necessary to preserve it. that made them great no one is asking you to do with the greatest generation has done. -- that made them great. no one is asking you to do what the greatest generation has done. no one is asking you to sacrifice your live to make sure we have an opportunity to win this election and preserve freedom. no one is asking you to put your fortune on the line. if you go to ricksantorum.com when you go home -- [laughter]

[applause] you can see my opponent has a little bit more money than i do. but by the way, last month we had 130,000 donations to our campaign. [applause] 2/3 of those donations were small dollar donations compared to the person outspending me. 9% of his donations were small dollar. 2/3 were maxed out contributors. on an out here fighting with you -- i am out here fighting with you, with the people of america to make big changes in this country, to take on the old boy

network, to take on those who would just like a little change in washington, who believe we win elections by putting the moderates instead of putting up people with clear convictions and a vision that is consistent with the founders and the greatness that built this country. i am not here sacrificing and pushing -- putting my life on the line, my honor. my father and grandfather worked and sacrificed. my grandfather in the coal mines, my dad in world war ii and serving this country afterwards, serving veterans of the veterans of administration. they taught me how special this country was, a privilege i was

to be here. they told me about where they came from. they told me of my duty to keep our country free. ladies and gentlemen, this is your charge. it is the charge of every generation. we are blessed. i mean this. we're blessed to be here at a time when america needs you. you are here in ohio where you always seem to be at the political center of the universe of america. [applause] when ohio whispers, people listen. when ohio shouts, we want a conservative," this country will stand up and join you. [applause]

in 2008, our elections were determined by candidate who promised he could solve the problems that confronted america. all you have to distrust him. he was able -- all you had to do was trust him. he was able to take on all the problems that confronted us. if you trusted him, he could turn america around. sometimes that happens in times of crisis. leaders come along and we tend to think they can do things for us. but americans are now little more sober and understand what has happened.

they now realize what we need is not a president who we can believe in. we need a president who believes in you. [applause] help me out, ohio. go and sign up at the website. go out and worked these next few days. we will bring home a big victory for freedom in america. thank you and god bless you. [applause] [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2012]

[applause] >> "washington journal." the house hearing of the ship's safety.

eclectic yet in 2006 that will be baking for the u.s. to use force in the middle east with an 3.5 years, at it would have sent you are crazy. >> robert kagan is an adviser to the romney campaign and serves on clinton's foreign-policy advisory board. >> i have been writing that there is a lot of continuity in foreign policy. a lot of a broad consensus. what you are seeing here is the kind of consensus in the foreign-policy community and there is a lot of overlap between the two parties. >> more on foreign policy and his latest book sunday night at 8:00 eastern on c-span. >> this morning, sudeep reddy discusses factors that could slow the economy. then jim h