take it or leave it. our days of playing second fiddle to moderates are over. believe intives freedom, real freedom, the greatest political experiment in history, the freedom entrusted to us by the founders and insured by the blood of millions of americans throughout history and it made america once the envy of the world. allfirst freedom on which other freedoms are built is the sanctity of human life. [applause] in prosperity, a real prosperity where every man is given the opportunity to succeed foley on his terms based on his efforts and free to retain the fruits of his labor, free from the tentacles of confiscatory government. it is the economic policy that

once made america the envy of the world. we believe in virtue, because without virtue freedom leads to anarchy. when -- it was put best when it was said america is great -- it's a america from communism and now international terrorism. it is a goodness that believes in a moral code, which is one of the putgod on our currency, his commandments in our courts and his prayers and our schools. this was america conceptualism. is it over? i do not think so. this where we must go again. let this be the call for conservatives back to greatness. let us begin today. thank you. [applause]

>> let him know you love him. this is going to be it for me today. i have to introduce the next person -- i am a huge fan of this lady. just contain yourselves. she is mayor of saratoga springs, utah. she is black. she is a she. bedrals check under their for her. mia love, ladies and gentlemen. [applause]

>> hello. are you tired yet? i'm not either. 6th was a tough night for conservatives. it was an even tougher morning when frustration set in and we look at what the next years held for our principles, our value, and this country. some wanted us to change our values and our principles. up andsaid let's pack regroup. tempting as that may sound that is not what we do as freedom- loving americans. general george patton was right when he said the test of success

is not what you do when you are at the top, it is how high you bounce when you hit the bottom. my question for you today is what does our bonds look like? how resilience will we be in the face of overwhelming opposition? opposition will hurt us, obviously. but if we keep seeing -- if we keep being introspective, if we have confidence in our abilities and principles, and that will allow us to get up and fight again. there is a story i love to tell about an old farmhouse with a note on the door hung with rusty nails. it told a lot about the resilience and the pound's stability and confidence of a ander -- and bounceability confidence of a farmer who lived there.

ldte out by jackrabbits, soul out, still here." electing --in me in and letting the rest now we are still here? --in letting the rest know we are still here? we are still here because our values of limited government and personal responsibility are still here. just as they had been over two hundred years ago. sometimes success comes from just getting up every day and working harder and harder. it is true -- we have serious and daunting challenges as a nation. the pundits of doom and gloom will have you believe all is lost. our economy is broken, people are harmless to improve their communities, our best days

are behind us and the nation we know and love is in decline. negativity can have even the most positive among us wondering if it is worth it to get out of bed. i have had those days where keeping the covers over my head all they sounded tempting. you from myor haitian-american communities who latino-american friends, there is great coause for confidence. confidence for our ability to restore the economy and bring greatest to this nation again. this is the united states of america and we have never been a nation of fear, blame, or failure. [applause]

i am here today able to speak to you and serve in my community because i was raised by people. i was raised by the community. i was not raised by the federal government. at the republican national convention i mentioned that the american determination is found in every channel who looks at the seemingly impossible -- every child who looks at the seemingly impossible and says "i can do that." that is the confidence we need to restore to our nation. true confidence comes from having respect for the challenge, being ready for the task, having a solid plan, and the determination to persevere. we have faced greek opposition during the course of the campaign. -- great opposition during the course of the campaign. often people would ask me what the source of our confidence was. my confidence and that of

hundreds of hard-working amazing campaign volunteers wasn't solely based on the fact that the working around the clock. -- that we were working round- the-clock, calling every voter every day. solid plan. we are ready for the task and we were willing to persevere. although we may not get what we want when we wanted to, confidence means you never give up. confidence means you stand up. seeminglyook at that impossible straight in the face and a"safethis time we need -- in the face and say "this time we will -- many people reminded me that november was not the end, it was just the end of the beginning. i have confidence that we can

balance our budget. we can reduce our national debt. i have confidence that we can restore our confidence in this country. i have confidence that we can revive our economy, revise our entrepreneurs so they can create real jobs and real opportunity. i am confident that we can keep the promises we made to our seniors, restore the power back to people, and make sure we work hard to make the promises -- to keep promises we made to our children and grandchildren. we need americans to believe government but a in the ability of the american people. -- not in a big government but in the ability of the american people. [applause] i believe we live in a time and place that inspires and confidence. every child can move towards their goal and dream. countryiduals and as a

we will not cower in the corner. we will not judge our weight to national decline. we will not go gently into that good night. we will instead stand up and stand out as examples of everything teverything that is s country. [applause] my husband, my children, my city ofsaratoga springs, my state, my country, that sweet land of liberty, and you are the source of my confidence today. i believe it is this type of confidence and enthusiasm ronald reagan had when he proclaimed it is always morning in america. [applause] i want you to remember that our

story has been told for over two hundred years. we cannot lead fade now. we must live it and tell it every day. to add your voice, your confidence youryour life to this cause. we can restore confidence to this great nation. then our country will be that light, that morning that our children and grandchildren will possess for years to come. i am with you, utah is with you. look beside you, they are with you. may god bless you all and may god bless the united states of america. thank you. [applause]

>> ladies and gentlemen, please welcome tea party activist and political commentator sunny johnson to the stage. [applause] >> it is so great to be back. it almost a much for having me again this year. introduce -- t to it is so weird being back this year. i wish beyond anything that i could come out to this stage and introduce him right now. [applause] we all made a promise that even though andrew was gone we were not going to stand around and we were going to fight. out thiscrowd coming year, we proved we are going to

fight. let us keep it moving and get on with our next panel. we are going to have an all-star panel. is a national review washington and deter and cnbc contributer. the chief political writer of " the washington times." is the four foundation fellow in journalism at northwestern university. served as ther co-host of "mornings on the mall," and is a regular guest

house for the dallas miller show. -- the dennis miller show. larry oversees all the video content on the site. one of my favorite radio talk show hosts, rusty. he is known for his intellect and bringing new concepts and ideas to the conservative movement. rowdyou have a bunch of conservative men you need a strong woman to corral the mall. we have genevieve wood, the vice president for marketing at the heritage foundation. she is responsible for developing and executing market strategies to promote heritage. previously she worked more than

13 years in washington politics, policy, and media. in 2000 campaign, and elections gazine >> thank you. thank you. good afternoon, everybody. it is great to see a crowd here at cpac. are you having a good time? yeah? i think you're going to have a good treat this afternoon because we have an all-star panel set up here. these are folks who all have opinions, as i'm sure you do. we're going to get their feedback about the budget battles, the new pope that was announced, we're going to talk about rand paul. >> what did he do? >> we'll get to that. we'll get to mayor bloomberg and a number of other things. there is no better man than president obama to launch our

panel. >> is he here? >> he's on the big screen. this is president obama earlier in the week talking about the budget and the fact we need to raise more revenue. then we're going to hear from a senator who has a different take. let's roll clip number one. >> i voted for the first three nominees by the president. his is not about partisanship. i allowed the president to pick his political nominees, but i will not sit quietly and let them shred the constitution. i cannot let the president say he will kill americans on american soil who are not activity attacking the country. >> if mr. paul wants to be taken riously, he needs to do do more political stun -- stunts.

he needs to know what he is talking about. >> ok, that was not president obama or -- but let's start off with rand paul. we talked earlier about this week about this particular story. senator mccain did not have the respect for senator paul's filibuster. what is your take? >> i think senator paul is a fascinating person in congress right now. a lot of people thought the wing would be suffering and you see the senator on capitol hill really defining the future of the republican party. i think he has been savvy on how he has gone about this. instead of making a brood argument, he took that drone strike, used the john brennan nomination for the c.i.a. and made a case for it. is father was seen by the main

sfreem press as the crank of sorts. rand paul has a broad appeal. just from being a reporter here at cpac i think he has a strong chance of winning the straw poll. john mccain has just apologized for that comment. i think mccain realizes that the party is moving in a different direction. the appeal of a nonintervention of foreign policy is picking up speed within the party and rand paul stopped by national review earlier this week. he's a charismatic figure and that matters in politics. this is a guy who resonates with a lot of people and i think he has a bright future in republican politics. >> did john mccain revised his remark? i did not know that. >> he apologized. >> good for him. he was jealous that someone

could stand up for 12 hours without urinating. >> rand paul had help with other folks. i agree with the fact that we ought to be putting pressure on the justice department and the administration to come forward with a lot of clearances. what was your take on it? situation he's in, many conservatives -- his father rand walk into a room and is the opposite. diffuse for ways to the situation. people who have served in politics understand how

important that is. i had the privilege of going with rand paul and his wife and two of his sons to israel right outside of jordan in january. what i saw was amazing politician. a man who maintains his principles. he did not deevevate an inch. - deviate an inch. we traveled with jewish eight days spent even though he was telling isreali conservatives that it might not be a good idea to build the new settlement, but i don't think the united states should tell you what to do. so we should stop giving you aid

and then you don't have to come o us about if it is ok to do something. oddly enough he is a -- he's a an of faith. he takes it seriously. he's got everything a successful conservative politician should have to win the white house. therefore, given the history of this country we know it is not possible. [laughter] >> the personality might be a factor but what about the debate about the drone issue. do you think that resonated with the public? does it change the dynamics bond the personality and the rising star of rand paul? >> i don't think so. i think it ended up being about rand paul. the good thing is he wrapped the

entire conversation around the constitution or he wrapped the discussion around the constitution. the founders were so brilliant in laying out the constitution and the bill of rights and it is such a simple document that i think there are fundamental -- even people coming out of public school understand about the constitution. when he laid out the question, the very simple question of --ther the chief competitive executive, the president, can he do that this and the answer has to be no. the fact that he got that shows that the president obama administration has carried off this robust war by drones. 4,800 people have been killed by

drone strikes under the obama administration. that is an astounding number. i think it is troublesome. the fact that rand paul had to go to such lengths to get that simple answer that is what resonated. i don't think it advanced the drone question that much but that is the beauty of politics in 2013. rand paul is pretty low key? he gave almost a lecture here. he is charismatic but he doesn't a -- >> i'm glad to see a politician stand for something, has core values. in something. stand up for something. on the other hand you have john mccain stuffing his face for president obama. if he had core values and core con visions he did not like what rand paul stood for, go to the

filibuster and call him on it. what did he do? he waited until the next day, had a nice party with president obama, fed that fat face of his and then came back to the floor and made an issue about it. i understand that john mccain is a big supporter of the war on terror. i am as well. i understand a guy who has been through guy. i have been to iraq, i've been to afghanistan. my father was killed in vietnam. i get the concept of standing up for the military, protecting our country. john mccain, if you want to protect the country, how about this, how about sticking with your pledge to build the damn fence. then we will talk! are you here? don't be afraid to get a little rowdy. make some noise. there we go! >> that is what we need. >> by the way, i'm done.

>> come on back, rusty. i do want to move to that dinner that you referred to and this whole debate about the spending and the budget and the like. let's see if we can roll the clip that is president obama -- i wish it was senator obama. >> are you referring to michelle four years from now? >> be careful what you say. let's roll the clip on president obama. >> i think what is important to recognize is that we have already cut $2.5 -- 2.7 trillion out of the deficit. in the sequester stays in, you have over $3 trillion in deficit reduction already. we don't have an immediate crisis in terms of debt. for the next 10 years it is in a sustainable place. >> smatesing what the deaf ear that the president has around us.

$16.7 trillion in debt. we'll add to it. while the president has been in office we've added $6 trillion in debt. he made a comment he said he did not want to balance the budget for the sake of balancing the budget. you balance it to get control of the runaway spending. >> where do you even start? we don't have a problem right now? >> either the president is the biggest liar in the history of the united states of america, or the dumbest human being ever. [applause] i have a 12-year-old daughter who understands that you can't keep spending money or you don't have enough money to buy your one direction tickets. your direction was your garage

band. >> thank you. he can't be this dumb. he can't be this dumb. >> he's not dumb. >> he wants to be generous. the president called the george w. bush deficit unpatriotic and i believe that was $12 trillion ago. also, the federal government has raised more money via income taxes in its history and this is under the evil george bush tax cut, which proves, by the way, that that lowering taxes brings more money into the federal government. thank you. the president says we don't have a long-term debt crisis but when there is discussion going on with republican leadership he is pushing to raise taxes. if we don't have a debt problem hen why do you want to raise taxes? george stephanopoulos' follow-up question was so tough. >> i was given the microphone

because my voice doesn't carry or because of the symbolism. i'm going to put -- i'm taking a wild leap here. i'm going to put this panel down as skeptical about the current president is that right? >> that might be right. >> don't start now. >> i think it is interesting when you watch the politics of what president obama is doing in that interview. i think everyone in this room when you talk to squert -- conservative activityists that everyone thinks there is a problem and there needs to be a balance in four years or 10 years. the broader question is, when you talk to republicans privately, senators and congressman, they are worried after the 2012 election the

residents of the ryan budget, it did not play. they wonder when they go to 2014, everyone might recognize it as a problem. but they think is obama continues to talk about taxes on the rich, taxes on the corporation he can craft a majority. in the speech yesterday, he's talking about republican messaging. it is too much about budgets? should it be more about tax cuts or growth? how do you articulate a message that wins? ryan budget is popular with conservatives. i just wonder in the future, if that romney pick of ryan if it is going to move in the direction of it is all about the budget. if you want to balance the budget you have to do things now. there will be a debt crisis. but sitcomably kated. are people paying attention?

do people beyond cpac care? i think that is what obama is betting on. >> you used the word austerity and i see congressmen using austerity. american people know that word, austerity links to riots in the streets in paris and athens. austerity takes the yummy things away from them. that is the worst word to do. that means you can do things with that money. that is what we need to talk about. hopefully, ted cruz will send that message and he will not use the word austerity. >> part of the problem we have is president obama does something brilliant and he uses emotion. that is what resonates with the low-information voter. that is not their fault. they have kid, they have family

in their life and the kardashian family is show is awesome. i bring that up because when conservatives get up $1.5 trillion -- we throw out numbers and people say let's turn the channel. we need to work on messages that resonate on an emotional level with regular people and do in the a way that they say that makes sense. we can't spend that money. obama is out there saying i'm cutting the deficit. we need to get angry because the american people are angry and obama is lying to you. we need to make that very, very clear. that's right! [applause] >> the white house belongs to the conservative and anger is not what it takes. it takes an understanding of who obama is and what he is up to. what he is up to he does very well. hen wants to take this -- he

wants to take this country to a state of socialism, which has not been achieved but it came close during the nixon administration. obama is doing what he thinks is good for america. all of us know that every time that has been tried the opposite has happened. people become poorer. except for the few elite at the top who run the political system. obama is doing a good job of trying to achieve socialism in america. the task of conservatives is to do a better job of explaining why socialism doesn't work and why free markets do work. cord comp ng the pation but explaining why comp pation is cancelism. >> it has to be done on a level people. affects real

>> you're using grill yapts words but most people are going i don't get it. >> we're putting on this kind hoff debt on the next generation, this is immoral. talking about balanced the budget. why is it a bad goal and somebody said this earlier this week said this very thing. shouldn't we have a goal, by the time a third grader graduates from high school we have balanced the budget in this country? we should make that promise, it is doable. whose budget did not balance the budget comes out with one that does. >> how to make it personal? joe made this case and we wrote articles about this. during the sequestration battle, obama gave his speech about the horrific sequestration and how bad it was.

he was surrounded by the village people. he had a person behind him with a hard hat and make an native american. when john boehner came out he had a doomsday clock behind him, counting down the days to the sequester. he wanted to point the blame to obama. we should take credit for this. for the first time we're going to sort of cut spending at the federal level and we're going to talk a how that will help people in the long run. >> one quick thing. i ask people at cpac what they think about the second obama term and the real challenge for conservatives is you're dealing with a democratic senate and democratic white house. it is easy to propose a 10 year balanced budget like the conservatives are doing in the house but that is not going to be political reality in the short term. on one side you're articulating

your principles and that is a big part of politics. but are conservatives going to be open to a grand bargain, most say no. they don't want any kind of revenue, any kind of taxes. some are ok with tax reform. but if you're going go through the text couple of years as a lawmaker you're dealing with a president who is liberal. i think that is an open question for the movement and for the party. >> rusty, i will start with you. if you were advising the conservatives within the republican party, what would you tell them to do for what robert is saying here, in terms of getting on the right course to solve this problem but, two, recognize you have elections coming up in a year and half. you have to deal with the political reality as well. what would you advising people that are coming out with

republican budgets to do? >> we have to cut the budget. but we have to have a message -- >> that is not simple and you know it. >> of course it is simple. there are so much waste and fraud -- of course it is simple. >> it is understand but not simple to do. >> it is more simple than they are not doing, they are not trying to. the problem is -- >> you have to face that fact. the people who are going to vote for our team has an invested interest in socialists. >> that is not the problem. >> we're not going to get anywhere. >> i'm not willing to give up or sell out. >> i'm not saying give up. >> i'm not going to say there is nothing we can do so we might as well keep up staying in pain.

i'm not doing it. we need to show why it is in the best interest of the people in our country to cut the size and scope of government and have a message that makes it, again, that we can understand what it is. not everybody went to ivy league college, i know your smart. i take notes to read your stuff, which is good. not everybody wants to do that. we have to make it -- again, obama is doing a great way -- they have people crying up there and babies and women, they are all going to do -- to die because we cut 14 cents. we have to do it more on a emotional level to get people to want to understand what is going on. >> there is a way to do it. i feel a little bit of hope. i think the sequestration has been fantastic in terms of narrowing down this discussion and focusing. the white house tours question was brilliant. the obama administration walked

into it. earlier this week, representative andy harris, a doctor from maryland -- [applause] >> right? i just moved here and i'm from california. i feel right at home in maryland. you have to watch out. he was on the appropriation committee and he had the president of the disease control center in front of him. you sent out this pamphlet and you're cutting because of the sequestration and 250,000 children in maryland would go without immunization and i have the obama budget in front of me. you were going cut $58 million and no children were going to be -- go out immunization. that proves they are lying to you. number two, they are using children to prey on you and

number three, you can cut thout these affects being as disaster ours. call the president out on here and you'll see how the president is manipulating you through the media. is president did not run the election on gun control. children in his own home district are getting slaughtered on a nightly basis and he says nothing about that. this is the one president and the one attorney general, eric holder can that can stand up in the african american commune in urban centers and make a difference with gang bangers. stand up and say the culture and violence in our community must end and it must end today. he won't say that, he will talk about "assault weapons" and

children of sandy hook. >> are you asking for more gun control from -- >> no, i don't want the government controlling anything. >> but ralph -- [applause] >> there you go. what about -- these guys are making a strong case. they are going on the offense. >> yeah. this is built on lies. we're not having congressmen coming out here and saying president obama is lying to you. we can't use those words. yes, he is lying. i don't know how this guy can get up and look himself in the mirror and say i'm going to lie to the american people. i could not do it. >> the republicans have been doing it as long as the democrats have been doing it. >> that's why we're trying to change things. cpac. why we're here at

>> why is it so hard for republicans to stand up with true moral outrage and talk about the fact that if you want to be concerned about social security and medicare and these problems, it is the president's plan that is driving more people into debt and eventually destroying any safety net that we have in this country for anybody. if you're really absolutely concerned about helping those who need help, we need to go after and reaffirm these programs and address it from that side. why is there no moral outrage on the conservative side -- not the conservative side but the republican side? >> i think republicans and conservatives deserve credit for making the case for fiscal reform. i don't think it is a case of not willing to go into battle against the left and against the democrats. i think republicans worked their hardest to try to make that case. i think the broader national case is who is listening? who is agreing with this?

how do you get more voters to agree with this? the problems is clear. the problem is also within the republican party. sequestration is a great example. before the election there were many interviews with republican leaders and republican politicians who were worried about the sequester and complaining about it. after the election many conservatives say let it happen. let the cuts go through, it is a silver in the budget. conservatives have a confusing message. there are clearer messages on entitlement reform. if you're listening for the right position versus the left position it is not entirely accurate and clear. >> the republicans have not presented a budget of them that could cut social security, medicare, and other entitlement pralses. if you're a conservative who

should you focus on? the democrats are going to ask for what they want and it is the opposite of what you want or are you going to ask the republican party as the only vehicle for conservativism in this country to do what we ask -- what you ask it to do? >> let's see what the committees do when they come out with their budget. i think it might be a slight difference than what we saw with the ryan budget. i want to move on to another topic with what happened earlier this week across the pond, as we say, with the announcement of a new pope. story but political it has a huge debate. anybody catholic? we'll let you comment first but let's see chris mathews on the selection of pope francis. let's roll that clip. >> what we've seen here the election we're basing this on small evidence.

kind of a papal gala. bob from california, someone who is culturely conservative on issues like aabortion but also a liberal in terms of economics. we're familiar with that point of view. these are conservative catholics that are prominent in pennsylvania who are conservative and economically liberal. >> i sensed a remarkable consensus that we need a man who s wholely, we call him the holely father. like bern was and john paul. had a needed a man who sound -- we got one. >> all right let me come to you. that's a little scary description there. >> thanks for the clip. we have tripled the audience of that show.

[laughter] >> i think chris mathews -- by the way, i hope they never say -- i hate the fact that msnbc is off the air. they are gold for us and we love them on that wall. i think people are misguided roman ey compare the church to american politics. they show to be the morons that that are, chris mathews. thank you. when catholics chose pope francis, they were not choosing a replacement of pope benedict, they were choosing a replacement of st. peter. his job is not to do what needs to be done with regad of the modern political scene. his focus is to continue the teachings of the church, the faith and morals that were handed down, what we believe, from jesus to st. peter.

that is his job. that being said, he is a political figure, there are things he has to do over and above that. we saw it done well by pope john paul ii. i was thrilled to come up of age f a reagan presidency and john paul. i think it is way early to suggest this guy is one way or another aligned with the democrat or republican party. however, i will say this, it is offensive to me that the obama administration set a constituent gent led by joe biden to have him represent our country. this was a great moment for this president to be -- if he wanted to reach across the aisle to ask paul ryan or newt gingrich to represent the catholics of america. >> i don't understand what chris

mathews was talking about there. i would like to make a quick omment on the other video. but timothy dolan, cardinal from new york, for people who think public life does not have a religious element or element of faith, they turn to cardinal dolan. he is interested in public service, engaging with politicians, he's friendly with paul ryan. he was the archbishop in milwaukee. he spoke at both conventions this past year. e was doubted as a papal contender. i think with francis, larry is right, it doesn't make since to compare him to pennsylvania's bob casey. it is a wonderful moment for catholics worldwide to celebrate the new pope, he chose the name francis and to make it about . erican politics, no thanks

>> i want to remember that. he said i was right. >> you don't hear that a lot, do you? >> let me tell you about chris matthews. years ago when he was doing "hardball" and he did not know who i was. he had me on the show and one time we were taking a break to go to the men's room. >> i like where this story is going. >> you people "the washington times" don't know how conservative i am. [laughter] don't let it go beyond this room. he was assigned to sell himself to me as a conservative. the guy you know for the last 10 years is what, probably the most liberal -- >> well, he hangs out in the

green room populated by al sharpton and others he is the conservative in the room. that guy that looks like chandler from "friends." >> you're so mean. >> what? what? i'm sorry. >> herself the one thing -- i think the catholic church proves one reason why government and what we've been doing has been so wrong. we compete -- no, the catholic church is proving it. 'm not a bible scholar but i believe jesus said something you are your brother's keeper. it is not your government's your keeper. i'm supposed to do it myself. >> understand what obama