we talk a lot about, what are we going to do to help people go to college? what about the 25-year-olds? to 65-year-olds? 70% of them don't have a college degree. what is their economic future? who is talking to them? what vision are we providing? it can't just be about, we will cut taxes for high income individuals and everyone will be fine. because guess what? everyone is not fine. awrote the chapter in a book couple years ago called "blue-collar conservatism." i wrote it to respond to the experience i had on the road running for president in 2012, talking about restoring the manufacturing sector. why? for 100 years, it provided, the health of the middle of america. when do you see republicans talk about that. ? when do you talk about how you will do something for lower skilled or lower educated workers, for them to have a good quality of life?

for them to be able to rise in society? when do you hear that? from this podium? when do you hear that at a republican convention? then you wonder, why are they not voting for us, why are they upset, why are they leaving us? any of you married out there, ever not talk to your wife, then wonder why she doesn't think you love her? ladies and gentlemen, we are not feeling the love because we have not been giving much. we have to be a party that understands that america has two medically changed economically. globalization is real. it is wonderful overall, but it has serious consequences for a lot of people in our society. when we say, work harder, everything will be fine, how does that work with your kids? ladies and gentlemen, we have an opportunity as a result of what

is happening right now to start addressing some of these issues and put conservative principles, sasseings that beenn and i agree on, the things that speak directly to the needs of those who are struggling who say, we want something really different, because you have not been listening to us. they have every right to be upset. it's not just economic issues. not just moral issues. but the one issue that was big for me, immigration. to me, it is the signature issue, because it is one that says, we will put the interest of profit, of having lower wages if you are a republican -- you come at this from a business perspective, or more votes, from a democratic perspective. bringing in more people to drive wages down.

wages over the last 20 years have grown at the lowest level in any 20-year period in american history. and the republican party the conservative movement is divided on immigration. how can we be divided? what is the purpose of every law we should pass in america? i will answer that question for you. if it in the best interest of america? but that is not what we talk about with regards to immigration. nobody talks about how our -- whether immigration is in the best interest of american people, particularly the 70% of americans who are really struggling right now. you know what? we have an opportunity, ladies and gentlemen,, as a result of this earthquake that is happening across this country, to learn from that earthquake and take conservative principles

and policies and adapt them to roiling needs that are america today. you may call it populist, blue-collar conservative. i call it reagan conservatism. because you know what he did? he identified the problems and put forth answers to solve the problems. [applause] you provide that leadership as a movement, you won't have to be worried anymore. you won't be worried about the conservative movement, because we will have put our finger on the pulse of what is going on in america, to be able to help that patient rise from that bad and be productive -- bed and be productive again in our society. thank you very much. bless.

[applause] >> hello again, everybody. our next speaker, governor gary johnson. [applause] him the mostled fiscally conservative governor in america. he was the republican governor of new mexico from 1995 to 2003. term-limited, he retired from public service in 2003, but ran for president in 2012 as a libertarian, where he got more votes, than any other libertarian candidate in history. we were talking backstage. i was going to tell you more about him, but he will tell you more about himself in his remarks. i will leave it there. let's hear about libertarian conservatism from governor gary johnson. [applause] ♪ ♪

♪ i am gary johnson, and i would like to tell you myself thatabout maybe you don't know. i am the former two-term governor of new mexico. i got elected governor in a state that is two to one democrat, promising to bring a common sense business approach to state government. i never raised taxes. not one penny. [applause] i was labeled the most dangerous politician in america. [applause] outspoken regarding school choice than any governor in the country when i served. [applause]

bring competition to public education. [applause] i may have vetoed more bills as governor of new mexico than the other 49 governors in the country combined. bills as governor of new mexico. es,ook line-item veto thousands of them, to a new art form. in a state that is two to one democrats, me being a fiscal hawk, people in new mexico today wave at me with all five fingers, not just one. [laughter] [applause] i am a competitive athlete. i have done hundreds of athletic competitions. i still compete in skiing, mountain biking, and road biking

competitions. i am planning to ride the divide, which is a 3000 mile unsupported mountain bike race throughout the continental divide, from canada to antelope wells, new mexico. i have done ironman hawaii four times. i have done the leadville 100 mile run. i am also an adventurer. i am a pilot. i am a gas balloonist. i was copilot in winning the americas cup gas balloon challenge two times. i have had four asked balloon flights of over 2000 miles. i have climbed the highest mountain on all of the seven continents. mount everest on a recently broken leg. i am a fierce competitor. i am a fierc defender ofe

civil liberties. i think people need to make their own choices in their own lives, as long as those decisions don't adversely effect others -- affect others. i have been in entrepreneur my entire life. since i was 17, i have paid for everything. i started a one-man handyman business in albuquerque in 1974. i grew my business to employ over 1000 people in new mexico. [applause] i learned a couple of things. i learned a lot of things when it came to business. the importance of sharing in profits. it is amazing, how when you share in profits the pie gets so much bigger.

i learned about hiring and firing. hire and is soto difficult to fire. but if you can't fire people, you find yourself in a situation where you end up going bankrupt. and that's really the disconnect in the public sector, in the public sector. you have a president right now who has never hired and fired. it is really easy to hire. and i don't just mean to pick on president obama. it is the public sector. you find people who have never hired, who find it so easy to hire. and because it is so difficult to fire, they never fire. and what you end up with is a dysfunctional government because of that. i sold my business in 1999. nobody lost their job. it gave me my financial freedom. financial freedom for me is the ability to do what i want to do, when i want to do it.

it is freedom. money is freedom. so when the government takes away my money, they are taking away my freedom. they are taking my ability to spend my money the way i want to spend my money. [applause] i would like to give some advice to everyone here. my advice is worth exactly what you are paying for it. [applause] that is, to take whatever it is you know and apply it entrepreneurially. the rewards will be 100 fold. you will never regret it. as difficult as it will be to start your entrepreneurial venture tomorrow, it will never be easier than tomorrow to start that entrepreneurial venture. i am running for president of the united states right now. i am seeking the libertarian nomination to do that. [applause] am the third-party.

the libertarian party will be on the ballot in all 50 states. there are only three parties in november that will be able to late claim to that. democrat, republican, and libertarians. i believe the biggest issue facing this country right now is that government is too big, it tries to do too much, and it spends too much. $20 trillion in debt and rising is unsustainable. [applause] i advocate balancing the federal budget now. democrats and republicans are both responsible for this unsustainable debt. [applause] balancing the federal budget means reforming medicaid, medicare, social security, which i think will actually be kind of easy. i advocate eliminating income

tax, eliminating corporate tax, abolishing the irs, and replacing it with a federal consumption tax. [applause] i say, let's use the fair tax as a template for how we got the '' s and cross the t's to implement a national consumption tax. if eliminating corporate tax does not create tens of millions of jobs in this country, i don't know what will. [applause] in 2012, withlace 1.3 million votes. i heard from many that they did not want to waste their vote. wasting your vote is voting for somebody that you don't believe in. [applause] by the way, eliminating

corporate tax and eliminating the irs will send pink slips to 80% of washington lobbyists, because that's why they are there, to garner special favors. [applause] government is for sale. crony capitalism is alive and well. i happen to think that term limits is a silver bullet. that if term limits were in effect, politicians would do the right thing, as opposed to whatever it takes to get reelected. [applause] believe in free markets. when it comes to health care, i reject the insurance model. if we had a free market model for health insurance, we would have insurance to cover ourselves for catastrophic injury and illness, and we would pay as you go in a system that was very, very affordable.

r us.es gallbladder's r us, at thousands of dollars instead of tens of thousands of dollars. google me -- gary johnson. if you are serious about reducing the size and scope of government, im your guy -- i am your guy. my favorite veto as governor of new mexico was a republican bill that was going to require pet stores to exercise their dogs and cats two hours a day, three times a week. i got to tell you, that's where i want to buy my dogs and cats. i said in my veto message, if i sign this bill, the next thing i will have to do is fund the dog and cat exercise police. wortho some more advice, exactly what you are paying for it. tell the truth. keep your word.

be on time. it shows respect. don't say one thing and do another. that is hypocrisy, and that is unforgivable. get a job that you love. if you don't have a job that you love, quit and get something that tomorrow you will enjoy getting up and spending your time doing. lastly, a request to all of you. you have the ability to do this. give me in the presidential debate. get the libertarian nominee for president in the presidential debate. [applause] i applaud each and every one of you for your activism. you make a difference in all of our lives. you make a difference in your communities. people look to you for guidance. for that, i appreciate it,. for that,