and cultivating a nation of victims, and i am telling you i am no victim. i am of victor because of christ and what he has done for me. [applause] i do not know if i answered your question, but i think -- ms. hocker: i think you gave a great answer. ms. jessen: that means i did. ms. hocker: yes. [laughter] ms. hocker: i want to stay on the topic of pain and the topic of preventing people from suffering. lenny, let's start with you. i think all of our panelists have a perspective on this. capable of the unborn child protection act, it passed the house but did not get to the senate rate -- get through the senate. we know that scientifically,

there is no argument there, and at 20 weeks, a baby can feel pain, so if you are ripping that child out of the child's or the mothers will one them at a time, he is experiencing his that that a gruesome manner. -- his death in a gruesome manner. right now, states have various versions. what can we do as conservative activists to rise up? this does not go far enough in many people's view today, but what is our response now that that piece of legislation did not pass the senate? mr. mcallister: a lot of us talk in a secular perspective, but we can make it kind and easily. the declaration of independence is not safe choice, liberty and

the pursuit of happiness. it says life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. [applause] put, you cannot pursue happiness, you cannot have liberty, you cannot allow all to be, all-powerful god able to bless america on a regular basis if you do not celebrate life in all forms, in always, and understand that we can get the wisdom, the grace, the talent that we need to keep america, the greatest country on this earth, without getting different sections of the country, which includes protecting life and the mother's womb and allowing god to be able to work miracles every single day. america is a miracle. we talk about that from a secular perspective. when you really think about how we are able to warm our economy, form our laws, be able to educate 300 million people to be talented, to be strong, to be

focused, to disagree but move things forward, that is god working in our lives every day. why would we restrict that at 20 weeks or less or more? it should be like all the way across the board. ms. hocker: i want to grab onto something you are talking about, the gifts of bringing life into the world. i think you were also pointing at there are many people with talent and gifts who can bring comfort, forms of healing to others. it on a divided nation of the issues around cloning and testing on embryos that are thrown away. ben, when you think about the dangers of cloning embryonic -- many of us i am, forul, i know dances in medicine and technology, but there are dangers, too, that we are trading off. is why -- father bg

embryonic testing so dangerous and wise that another slippery slope like the one we're talking about with end-of-life? researchon: embryonic has been overhyped, so much so that many remember john edwards in the year 2004 come a promising that christopher reeve would get out of that chair and walk. hisds like i am in profession and he is in mine. he was promising cures. the fact is, the research has not delivered. so much so that it of the former advocates, who has financed stem cell research with his own foundation, said four years ago that it has not reduced the effect of your looking at other avenues for cures, but that is where it gets dangerous. when we are dealing -- we use the term embryo -- but we are talking about a newly created human being. this is another distinct person. the idea that we should create

human beings and harvest their organs for the good of science is tremendously dangerous. ms. hocker: some argued there are similarities between that form of testing and the testing and the research that goes on after baby parts are blocked and box andn the block -- traded on the black market postabortion. fr. johnson: there's no question it disregards the value and dignity of human life. we do not allow innocent people in this country to be killed, no matter what the reason, no matter what greater good. if we pass a law like that, how many people here are organ donors? quite a few. we might pass a law that if someone needs a heart, we can kill an organ donor, and take their organ and give it away. we would be sure to save a life that way. we could said the greater good would be served because any loss of the saved at the expense of one life. being hasieve a human

come into existence at the moment of conception, it is somewhat less immoral to take their stem cells and any other human being. -- then any other human being. [applause] ms. hocker: right now, in america, there are states with area schools on abortion. some require no waiting period. to see the child on ultrasounds. if you are done with their embryo, you have had your children and you have a couple left over, and you sign up or monday on your way to work and you are all set to destroy life that way and that easily. fr. johnson: that is true. that is the law that stands. there is such a thing as embryonic adoption and that is a separate issue. separate ethical issue, but the fact of the matter, embryonic stem cell research has not produced. regardless of what the future of these children are, they are separate individual human beings who deserve all the constitutional protection our system gives them and speaking to someone who wears a collar,

they deserve our love and respect. [applause] to buildr: i want off of that cloning. it is not something we talk a ton about, although, the dangers of designer babies became a little bit more real when we found out last week that there is a famous couple in hollywood who recently chose the gender of their child as they were designing their child. panelists, what are the dangers if science gets the point of cloning? what does that do to our society and wise that wrong? it goes to the idea that we can create lifelike machines. when we talk about life, we are not talking to physical beings walking around. we are talking about the touch of god being involved in the conception.ment of

that is what we call life. when you start changing that definition, then you start allocating who can create. "life" as soon as government gets involved in anything, government thinks they do it best. if you take that and couple it with universal health care with state provided government, let's take a 25 years down the road from a scientific standpoint we don't stop this now and we start picking winners and losers when it comes to organ harvesting, and it comes to who should live and dad. what population should grow and what people should not have kids? we have already gone through this. there is a reason people are so opposed to planned parenthood. we are not talking about the future. we are talking about repeating the past and we cannot afford to do it. ms. hocker: we cannot afford to do it and we cannot just repeat some of those from the future, but going back to some earlier conversations, on the matters of

life, whether it be from the moment the child is conceived, to living, to moments where we take our last breaths, we cannot get this wrong. we cannot afford to get it wrong as society. yount to ask each of you, know, we have a lot of great activists in our community and audience today. home, to ourn hometowns across this great nation over the weekend, what is or a question we can have in our back pocket when we meet someone that argues that we can destroy life and a whim and when we want, what is that one technical thing that everyone in this room can start to do today? mr. mcallister: go to the people that voted for president obama and say if you voted for hope and change in 2008, how come the

people whose lives you want to destroy in the womb cannot have pope as well? [applause] we are a nation of hope. we are a nation that believes you can come from humble beginnings and create new own businesses, institutions, change the path with your family tree and make a community's greater and america greater as a result. if you voted for hope and change in 2008, why can't they have the same thing? it is hypocritical, wrong and un-american. that is the first question have to put on their doorstep. ms. hocker: that is great. i think it is important to really deal with abortion when you're communicating with people who oppose you with tremendous love, honor, and respect, and start by asking them if they realize how incredibly valuable they are and if anyone has told them that? especially in the eyes of god that they are loved and not

forgotten. "them -- begin with then and then educate them about pregnancy resource centers all across the nation that provide a free and confidential service. planned parenthood is not your only option. absolutely, -- ms. hocker: absolutely, amen to that, sister. [applause] ms. jessen: i think that is a practical thing to bring into the equation, but also, i realize that there are people probably hear that have been involved in abortions and i want to say that i do not believe in shame. i have forgiven my biological mother for what she has done. i also do not believe that this is just a woman's issue. it takes two people to create a life. [applause] i am almost done and i am trying to hurry. we had emasculated men in this culture and i think that is wrong and i believe -- had gone

-- -- hang on -- that men are made to defend women and children and if you don't want to see this country go to hell, standup, take it back and defend your women. [applause] [laughter] that may or may not be acceptable in this room and i really do not care. [laughter] ms. hocker: you are getting a pretty good response. all right. one thing everyone can start to do on monday morning? fr. johnson: when i speak to this room, i am speaking to a lot of future elected officials, people in the think tanks, political movements for years to come, but i would ask each one of them to consider, all of you have towns that have been given to by god, just like rush limbaugh -- [laughter] that is for each of you to

determine whether you should use that talent full-time in the pro-life movement. all the issues that are important to you. if this issue does not take high already and precedence over all the others, and no other issue is secure, no other freedom to rehab without the right to life. i would ask them to consider that. people say, what happens if you go through and the movement is successful and we don't have the movement to go on anymore? i would tell them, go ahead, if we take care of abortion in the next four years, we will get to work on the next human rights movements. ms. hocker: i think you hit on a good point for everyone in this room. it is not just about being pro-life for babies. it is about talking about eugenics, it is about knowing the dangers of dr.-assisted suicide, and asking if it is death with dignity.

it is that slippery slope into euthanasia. i think that is a great point. i want to thank our panelists for all of the great points because these are important points for all of us to take back. it is not just about continuing to speak up on the half of , but it isbies also about speaking up and people with disabilities that they add value to our communities. it is about talking about the end of life, it is about saying we should not say that suffering is too much, but it is a part of the human experience and how do we care for those individuals instead of just giving them a prescription to end their lives? -- i encourage all of you to think about these and to think about what you are doing each and every day as you make your fellow constituents, fellow

voters, and you meet with your elected officials, whether you are one or you plan to be one or your meeting with one. i think these are all great key takeaways that we have to take back to our communities and continue to fight to restore the character of our great nation when it comes to the matters of life. factt to close with one and one called. since the time that this panel has sat on this stage, 60 children in the united states have been avoided. -- have been aborted. since this panel came out, and don'ts isn't alarming, i know what is. you can take all of these facts and all of these great ways to defend that anyone you to remember one thing. it is the thing that i remember when i think about protecting all of the voices.

it is how the woman, the mother of that baby rachel at seven months, that they be that she terminated because she might said, babyke me, she rachel, i wonder if she would have been a fighter? i wonder if she would have been a fighter? i would like to think so. but we will never know. can i do know is that we take these facts, these actions back to her hometown and we can not just be baby rachel fighters, but we can be the fighters of every voice in america that has been taken too soon. we can be those fighters. [applause] thank you.

[applause] ♪ [applause]

>> i think most americans are concerned that we're going the wrong direction as a country. the heritage foundation, to

me, the most important organization to change that. conservatives can inspire americans with drill solutions. >> where going to do everything we can to create more economy.ty in the our rallying cry is opportunity for all and favoritism for none. >> showing americans how our ideas will make their life at her and our country stronger. -- better and our country stronger.

>> good afternoon, cpac. how is everyone doing on the second day of cpac? is ron christie, and i'm honored to introduce our next speaker. i have known john kasich for 24 years. when he first hired me to work in his congressional office -- john kasich is a man who says what he means and he's a man who

means what he says. [applause] in congress he worked tirelessly to promote a strong national defense. the also led the fight to balance the budget for the first in 1997,merica back the first time the budget had been balanced since 1969, ironically, the year i was born. as governor of ohio, he has nearly $5bt by billion while strengthening education for the next generation. he has also worked tirelessly to ensure that the ohio he inherited, $8 billion in the hole, is now $2 billion in surplus. when he took office, john anich's ohio had

unemployment rate of 9%. today it is five point 2%. something is working in the buckeye state. as governor casey told me over the years, courage is contagious. his courage, his steadfast determination to do the right thing despite politics has made him a great governor, a great leader, and now someone who is running for president of the united states. ladies and gentlemen, it is my privilege to introduce my friend, my mentor, the governor of the great state of ohio, john kasich. [applause]

john kasich: great to be here at cpac. it's great to be here today in a little different situation. why don't we get to it. there have been a lot of young people here. i want to make sure i have a few words for all of you. you're wondering, this guy is on the stage. someday, could it be me? and a young man or woman here today, of course it can. i want to tell you that i've been very lucky in my life. there was almost a brokered convention. it was at that time that i got to meet ronald reagan. i knock on people's doors at midnight, 1:00 in the morning. they come answering their doors like, why are you banging on my door's? i said, i need to get ronald

reagan on the ballot. , andt him on the ballot then i was at the convention ath governor reagan and i at very young age had found myself in charge of five states for governor reagan. convention, but i was also up there when he told iople, at the end -- he said, may have lost the battle, but i did not lose the war. you need to understand something about ronald reagan. the establishment never liked him great they never liked newt gingrich, and they don't like me. why? we are change agents. we want to change the way this country works. we don't take orders from lobbyists or special interests or people who live on k street. reagan was an incredible man because he had a strong ideology .

i was honed in that as a young man. 1982i ran for congress. i was 30 years of age. in 1982, no one wanted to appear with ronald reagan. it was great because that meant i got to spend more time with ronald reagan. he came and campaigned for me in ohio. running on reagan principles of tax cuts and less spending and rest regulation and individual power, the strength and power of the individual, 1982, i was the only republican in america to defeat an incumbent them across on a conservative message. [applause] i shared ronald reagan's philosophy on building a strong defense.

to know, when i'm president and i sit across the chair or the table from vladimir putin, when he looks into my eyes on the way to my soul, you know what he will see? a freedom fighter. so i went to congress and participated in military buildup, but i also have to tell you that i also found waste and abuse inside the department of defense, and i fought it. do you know why? we can't squander resources. we have to make sure the resources we spend on defense get to our men and women in uniform on the front line and does not get squandered by bureaucrats or defense contractors that are not playing fair. and then six years into my term as a congressman, i got on the budget committee. people that said, we

can kind of managed this budget. i looked at the republican and democrat budget and i did not think either of them were worth the paper they were printed on. home filling up at the gas tank and i was complaining. a guy walked around the corner and said, if you don't like what's going on in washington, what are you going to do about it? i flew to washington and had a meeting with my staff and said, we are going to write the budget for the united states of america. they said, there are 100 people on capitol hill to our writing budgets. we have six people. i said, i know we are understaffed but if we stay out of each other's way, we can get things done. there was a bush budget, a black caucus budget, and a casing budget great the vote on the casing ajit was405 no and 30 yes. vote on the kasich budget was 405 no, 30 yes.

fought theyear i establishment. i fought the establishment because they wanted the status quo. my third budget i got more votes than the president got for his. i was building a team of people, and in 1993 when bill clinton wanted to propose a tax increase, i said we should have an alternative. the republican said, oh no, let's criticize. said, i did not come to washington to criticize. i came to build something. 36 people spoke in the conference. 34 said we should not have an alternative, and 2 said we should. i walked to the back of the room with newt. he said, we are doing better than i thought we would be doing. we offered that budget that year. joe scarborough says repeatedly on his show, it was the fighting that was going on to balance the

federal budget without political considerations that got him involved in politics. in 1994 andvictory we took control for the first time in four years in 1995 with a conservative agenda. we went through the ups and downs in the clinton administration. clinton is a guy who is the model is coming for him, he gets in front of it and called it a parade. heading regulation and reducing taxes are about economic opportunity and job creation. in that budget agreement that we made with the clinton we forcedtion where them, and they were for nothing real and they were for higher taxes, we cut the capital gains

tax, we provided a family tax credit, and we achieved the first balanced budget since man walked on the moon. and guess what? america's economy was booming. people had jobs, wages were growing. then it was time for me to leave this place. i'm glad we are not in d.c. because every time i go there, i break into a cold sweat. i stepped out of politics thinking i would never go back. so muchtate within trouble. we had lost 350,000 jobs. 20% of our budget operating was in the hole. if you know when you're doing and you don't worry about who's yapping at you or criticizing you are complaining, it's amazing what you can get done. guess where we are today. instead of being a billion

dollars in the whole, we are $2 billion in the black. jobs. up over 400,000 our pensions are safe, our credit is good, and our wages are growing faster than the national average. people have hope in ohio. [applause] let me tell you all something else. there's always a lot of questions. is kasich a conservative? i reformed welfare, they'll is the federal budget, promoted more school choice with charter schools and the voucher program, more than about anybody. we are reforming welfare again. -- we have shrunk shrunk in the state of ohio's unemployment to the lowest level in 30 years. get over it. kempe from the reagan and school.

are doingconomies better, we have an obligation to reach out to those people who live in the shadows, to give them an opportunity to achieve their god-given potential. the means the mentally ill, mentally ill should not be sleeping under a bridge or living in our prisons. they have a right to be treated, to get on their feet and assume their god-given purpose. the drug addicted can be rehabbed and in our state we have an 80% success rate in treating people in the prisons and putting them in the community, where we give them the responsibility to get on their feet and the working people, the working poor in this country -- isn't it time we reward them for working hard and getting a pay raise rather than having them turn it down because they lose more benefits than they gain? let's get back to what makes sense to give everybody a chance to rise. [applause]

we want our developmentally disabled to be fully integrated, and we are working towards that. our friends in the minority community, we want them to develop entrepreneurship. we want them to believe they are as a part of america is anybody else who lives in this country. so i ran for election in ohio, one of the toughest states to win. 26% of the african-american vote, 60% of women, and 51% of union households, and i won by 30 points in ohio. bringing people together works. a message for everyone, but particularly to the young people who are here today. here's what it is. know -- this is my present to you.

you are all made special. no one has ever been made like you. and no one ever will. i believe that the lord makes us special for a special purpose. do you understand that, young lady? that no one has. no one is quite like you because you were made special. your job is to find those gifts and to live a life bigger than yourself and change the world in which you live. the lord doesn't care whether you are running for president or whether you are hoping -- helping someone in the hospital with the family who is depressed or making sure that no one gets bullied, or making sure you are there to listen to one of your friends who may be having a hard time -- the lord does not measure us one against the other. one big task, the other little -- we are all equal in his eyes.

you are made special to come together as part of a giant mosaic. and when you lose that site or when you never find it, the mosaic remains incomplete. but when we as a society decide that we can use those tools, and let me tell you -- the strength of our country and the spirit of our country does not rest in washington. the big wigs listen. i can get our budget is balanced -- our budget balanced. i can do those things. i know how to do them. two-partee, it's a issue. it's not just what happens up here, but the strength of our country, the vitality of our country, the spirit of our families,sts in our our neighborhoods, our communities, and our states. don't wait for somebody to show up to fix the problems where you are. fix them yourselves.

guys.unting on you two we some reason, we think have to wait for somebody in the government to come in on a big white charger to solve our problems. they will not happen. i'm going to give you your power. education, welfare, infrastructure, health care for the poor, job training, all of that to where we live. and you will have more power. we are going to cut taxes because we have to run america from the bottom up. that's what we have to do. that's what works. the greatness of our country is not waiting for another government program. some of them are important. you know how we really fix things in america? when we put our shoulder to the wheel to make our schools work better, when we fight drug abuse in our communities, you've got

to tell a kid, don't you be doing those kids -- drugs. stand up and fight against poverty in your community and get businesses into work with people on welfare to get them trained so they can get work. we need to encourage young people, you adults out here. join a mentoring program. get kids to see their future. don't leave them behind. these things don't take government. they take us believing in ourselves. from, wele town i came did not wait for the president. we did not wait for anybody. we were neighbors and we took care of one another. and we do it again. we will fix the programs up here that the federal officials need to fix without regard to politics, with good conservative principles. but when that power comes back,

you take care of your job. if i need you to help me break through these problems in washington, i will give you a call. i will comeme, running to your neighborhood. let's make a deal, ok? will rebuild america and its spirit and maketh the best it has ever been. we can do it, and we will do it. thank you all. [applause] now, i have a friend that is going to come out here. here's an old buddy of mine? -- mine. >> hello, cpac! [applause]

>> this is the first time i've been on the left my whole life. [laughter] >> how are you? >> this is exciting. andyoung people having hoax dreams and goals and not becoming cynical and not becoming some political hack, and believing the world can be just what you think it can be -- it's fantastic. >> isn't it great to see all these young people -- this is why the election is so important. it's about their future. >> absolutely correct. >> you had the big debate last night. i have a few process questions. you are one of the only states that did not get a nickname from donald trump. are you ok with that? i'm fine. who knows what nickname he would give me, you know? >> i think it's on the minds of

many of us here -- we had a speech by mitt romney yesterday. how many people in this room supported mitt romney? everybody. i was a little disappointed because what it sounded like was a strategy to me -- i thought he would have been a great president. sounded like a strategy. rubio wins florida, ted cruz wins the states that he can't. in that sense, you are part of their strategy to make that come about and have a floor fight at the convention. gov. kasich: you have to leave it to the voters to decide what they want. i don't depend on any strategy. my wife, i get strategy from her. not so much about politics, but that's where i get my orders from. let me say something about donald trump. you will not eat him by smearing

him. you will beat him by having a and showing people the art frustrated. who are they? >> i'm one. i'm frustrated. gov. kasich: i'm talking about .he underemployed insecuritiesmany out there, and i get it. i grew up in that town. you grew up there, right? the key is, who's got the record and the vision, and not just political gibberish like, i'm going to do this, i'm going to do that. i've already done these things. i want to go back and do them again to get the country moving. >> i want to talk about your record. campaigna positive instead of negative? [applause] i'm frustrated for two reasons.

a lot of kids are doing the right thing to get their education, they go home and live in mom and dad's basement because there's no jobs available. 50 million americans in poverty. why i'm even more frustrated. republicans in washington. i'm not talking about republican governors. i know your record in ohio. republicans in washington have been weak and ineffective. they have sought to keep their own power. they would not use the power of the purse to stop obamacare. defund executive amnesty. are you all frustrated about that like im? frustration.f the i think people want to hear from you about why people feel as angry as they do. gov. kasich: they keep electing people and they're not getting what's promised. i have to be careful to not make big promises i can't keep.

here's what i believe. the reason why we have a poor economy is we over regulate, we are choking small business, we are raising taxes, and we are blowing up the budget. what do you do to fix it? commonsense regulations with an eye on rewarding small businesses. secondly, cut the taxes for businesses. cut individual rates. make it simpler, like reagan did. balanceda path to a budget. when special interests come yelling and screaming, say we are going to get this budget moving. if we don't do these three things and work on workforce, we will fall short. here's what the congress needs. it needs a dose of leadership from the white house. paul ryan will be a good one. can't wait to get there. belt inon't have a seat the first 100 days, i will give

a plan to free federal regulations, reduce taxes on businesses and individuals, we are going to fix social security, we are going to fix the border, we are going to have immigration taken care of, we relationsto restore with our allies. that's what we're going to do. by a seatbelt. [applause] we need shock and awe. we need to say to congress, this is where we are going. talk about working with democrats, i work with the blue dogs. they are more conservative than a bunch of republicans. any of those blue dog types that want to come and bring a conservative side to support us to fix these problems, they are welcome. but they're not going to call the tune. contests.15 walk the people in the audience

through your path you see that will get us the nomination to 1237 delegates. gov. kasich: i don't think anybody's going to get that. i'm going to win ohio. let me put you in my shoes. nobody covered me. no one knew who i was. i had to fight for every second. i have not raised a lot of money. i'm not doing a lot better. cannot get any attention. they thought, he will never get on the stage for a debate. then they said, he'll never make it to new hampshire. then they said he would not survive super tuesday. i'm the last governor standing, there's only 4 of us and we are the little engine that can. believe in us. and now finally, finally, finally the country is beginning to get a little bit of who i am. i will take this every day as compared to one of those debates.

, out and talk to people. do you think it is going to be a brokered convention? mr. kasich: i do. mr. hannity: let's say you get to the condemned -- convention and candidate a does not get there, and candidate b is significantly behind. with a brokered convention do you think candidate a supporters will be angry if another candidate gets the nomination? mr. kasich: it has to be done fairly. i was there any young man in derailen reagan tried to gerry ford. as crazy as this year's, and there is nobody who was a this

is not, can you think anything cooler that a convention when we learn how america works and our kids will learn more about american politics than they are from the kardashians not that i have anything against the kardashians? you cannot have a bunch of people in the smoke-filled rooms, who are the establishment, and you and i have never been the establishment, ok? my only fear of the convention is that these connected would dominates, and we are going to have to prevent that. mr. hannity: you think your only path to the nation -- to the nomination -- mr. kasich: i have to win ohio. have to win 68 of the remaining delegates. ted is around 59 or 60. it is unlikely. if nobody goes to the convention with enough delegates, we were going to have to meet -- they

told me that convention will be held in cleveland. that is interesting. mr. hannity: what about your background. there is to say about a lot of people do not know you, and maybe i am showing my age, but i'm member you and the diminishing and bill clinton was president and newt gingrich became the speaker of the house, and you guys took on a sitting president, you did get to a balanced budget, you didn't get to a surplus, but now we have $20 trillion in debt, and the numbers are much bigger. how do you duplicate that? mr. kasich: let me remind you of something that is sad. when i left washington, we had a $5jected five dollars -- trillion surplus. we could have had private accounts for young, which would have given them to grow with the

ability of the strength of the congress. who control congress? republicann house, a senate, and a republican president. trillion.$5 we have to think about this. at the end of the day, who cannot control this fiscal policy, if we cannot reduce the taxes or control regulations, we will draft and we will have a lousy economy, and these young people who want to realize their purpose will be denied it. what politicians were about to much is being popular. and youis your goal worry about the next election, get out, go away, do something else. you are there to raise everybody and make hard choices. this is not rhetoric. check my record. a lot of people run away from the record.

please go check my record and you will see it is true. we stand together, we will have victory in this country. mr. hannity: chris christie said there is no way to balance the budget about dealing with entitlements. me, he goes, politicians are already stealing your social security. it was never put in a lockbox. do you raise the eligibility age to one day before i die? does that mean he will means test it and the government gets to confiscate all the money that you said they would give you back in later in your life? is that the only way to do it? mr. kasich: there is no third rail. if you think there is a third rail, do not run. you go in there to do something, and can we fix social security? yes. it will mean you if you are wealthy throughout your life, you will still get social security, but not as much. those who depend on it, will get. mr. hannity: and you realize

that government will be stealing money from some people? mr. kasich: i had a plan 17 years ago that would have fixed theyplan for 75 years and did not do with it. what i was just, and i do not want to get the details, but there are iou's. the problem is we have a love retiree set of longer, and fewer workers. this is a demographic issue. let's be as fair as we can. i medicare and medicaid, i believe we can have a system that gives us better quality care at lower prices. i took medicaid in ohio from a temperate 5% growth, we did not take one person all the roles. -- rolls. everything in america, give me that smartphone here, ok? when my kids were about 10 or 11, they said, what is that box over there?

that is where superman changes his clothes and mom and dad used thing.coins in that uberi the federal government. ze let's have some guts. example, ubergood doing a great job? we all like uber. you realize in cities that politicians are from to stop it out? we need to welcome innovation and change. excess fresh, new, alive again, and we need to stop that kind of stuff. mr. hannity: want to talk about homeland security. we have people chopping up people's heads, burning them a lot. they are saying convert or die, and the reason questions about

the safety and security of every american. isis is the modern-day evil in our time. and we an ongoing war have the ability to work without boots on the ground? mr. kasich: no. to push saddamd hussein out of kuwait. you get the arabs and egypt and andan and saudi arabia, bring our western allies, who are sitting there. we got to go in the air, on the ground, and destroyed isis. mr. hannity: we're going in back on the ground? mr. kasich: win it, destroy them, so it, and come home. let them job. mr. hannity: why are they not doing it on their own? mr. kasich: because they are not. i just will grow in deeper. heads the counterterrorism task force along with homeland security,

state, and local officials, and that is good. they do a great job of disrupting. for everybody, he something, call somebody, please. we got this big fight going on between apple and our intelligence community. wouldere president, i think apple and the intelligence community, lock them in the room, and say you are not coming out until you figure it out, and when you cannot you will not talk to the press, and we will not put on the front page of the paper, we will just make sure we are secure. i might put hannity in the room there with them. mr. hannity: what i would lead to see, we all watched arsons and dollars and nation blood in and it is now in the hands of isis, because in aetnam, the way we politicize war the way this president has, our sons and daughters died

and i worry that i think we have got to advance and develop a technology where we do not have to send men and women over to fight and win wars. are we on the verge of cutting technology that will allow us to fight wars without going door to door to door and dealing with -- mr. kasich: you're right about that, because technology can play a good role there's not going to be a substitute for people at least in our lifetime having to be on the battlefield. 18erved in defense for years, and rumsfeld called me helped out/11, and i there. i have to tell you the reality of it, and i think people are prepared for this cause we looks the other way. no negotiation with isis. they hate our existence. the key is to not be a nation builder and do not think you can convert these people to our way of life. it is not going to happen. mr. hannity: are we fighting wars too politically correct?

donald trump bombed a living -- out of them. i am if america is too concerned -- we care about human life, we are prone wife, but are we overly concerned about collateral damage to the point where we have tied our hands? mr. kasich: you do not fool around with it, and unfortunately, you cannot win this from the air. you have to take ground. it is the way has to be. mr. hannity: we got to wrap up. mr. kasich: the united states you involve itself in a civil war. fouled upeally in libya. when you think about hillary's time as secretary, the whole world -- the whole world started telling america. now she wants to be that commander in chief. give me a break.

it is an absurd consideration. mr. hannity: do you think she will survive what is going on --h the fbi and all the news state evidence was just turn in that the guy who built the server was offered the fifth. do you think she is in legal trouble? mr. kasich:mr. kasich: i would not like to be in her position. mr. hannity: i would not want to be married to build either. governor casey, there are some kasich, there are some really hot chicks over there. mr. hannity: i just wondered if hannity had lost his mind. i will have to give her a call, if she just gets part of this. mr. hannity: you have done a good job when you were on house in what wasttee, your deficit when you took over

in ohio? mr. kasich: 20% in the whole of our operating budget. billion. of $8 over 400,000 jobs, cut taxes more than anybody in the country. and we killed the death tax. we have not made a long progress. mr. hannity: republican governors have governed conservatively. if washington republicans could learn something, it would be good for our country and have these kids that we care about. give it up for governor john kasich. [applause] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2016] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org]

>> it is time for a new way of looking at knees. it is time for a network that cares about a strong america. honestime for an assessment of our fiscal responsibility and our national security. it is fun to switch things up. if you're looking for credible news them then you have come to the right place. when america is ready, are you? watching,you are subpoena attention. me for speaking my

mind. he tried to control me with violence and intimidation. you think you can muzzle me with fear? me for myfuse politicians on my media. i am an american, and i will call you out for you are, an islamic extremist who would kill me for my beliefs. do not intimidate me. my freedom is more powerful than anything you could do, and i will never surrender my rights to your terror. i will send but i think i worship according to my belief, and raise my children how i think that, and i will defend it all with the second amendment to the concert to the united states. -- to the constitution of the united states. [indiscernible]

audio] ♪ cpac. how are you doing? it is great to see you all. it has been 13 years since i spoke at an official cpac event. an importantays reminder to stress that this is the conservative political action conference. [applause] gopmalkin: not the political action conference.

i had been a lifelong movement conservative, not a compassionate conservative, not a reformed conservative, not a fill in the blank modifier cooked up by d.c. elite who b tok it is their jo rebrand old-fashioned conservatism. the state of the republican party is not sound. the republican party has been ry-carying slow motion ha for decades now. what we are experiencing is not unexpected. it is the result and the consequence of republican party doing and power brokers

what the rest of washington is guilty of -- not listening to the people. arnold toynbee say that civilizations die by suicide, not by murder. the same is true of clinical parties. threatsre are external to the republican party, but the alls are coming from inside the tent. what has gone on d.c. powerbrokers is the equivalent of a fragging. it is not people outside the party that have thrown the outervative grassroots base of the bus. it is the people who had paid lip service to limited government while gorging on it.

it was not any outside candidate that is not a part of our movement who conspired with a gang of eight. it was people with -- by their names. outsiders who are unfamiliar with our movement who conspired with the establishment on common core. who threwepublicans us under the bus. that was republicans who work on men, and it is the heart and soul of conservative grassroots activist, mostly everyday ordinary moms who shamed the republican party elite into backing away. and now what are they doing?

the thinking that they always do, when grassroot conservatives call them out. they smear the people who fought against them called them out. at them as hysterical as just fringe movements on the internet. and then they go and campaign on our side, knowing that they stabbed us in the back. peopleis not to tell what they want to hear, but what they need to hear. we just had governor john kasich, a nice guy by all means, who last night during the debate pretended that he was on the side of local control. ohio grassroots activists and moms know better.

smeareda man who homeschoolers and teachers for our opposition to common core. i am telling you the truth. i am asking you to do your homework. i am asking you to follow the money. i know it is what you do not want to hear, that you want to hear the same republicans promise you as they have been since 1981 that they are going to abolish the federal department of education? it is an empty talking point, and those empty talking points need to be punctured like helium balloons. [cheers] there are three reasons why jeb bush failed. his last name, his support for amnesty, and his cheerleading

in on common core. [applause] people talk about the establishment without naming names. i do that. you want to talk about the names of the front groups in d.c. that are cashing in and selling out american parents and taxpayers on something like calamp corp. -- like common core? it is the national governors association. they are in the back rooms education itn-area he longs, radicals who do not believe in the constitutional principles of local control of education and sovereignty of our families. of the 25 people in the national governors association meetings,

where they were writing up the standards, meetings that are secret and confidential and copyrighted, of the 25 people in writi those standards in twon thousand 9, 6 were text makersith the of the college board, four were with a crony group called achieve inc., and several had zero experience. do not you believe every republican who says these are well drafted. french.p, pardon my let's talk about more: artist slogans, like this 1 -- i believe in securing the border

first. nonsense. 13 years ago, i stood at a podium at cpac and i concluded my speech with these words, because you never hear people talk about the constitution when they talk about immigration. fouirr said, session it is the duty of the federal government to protect the state from invasion. in my pocket copy of the westitution, it is not say need to provide for the common defense first. no. securing the borders and providing for the common defense are ongoing, eternal commitments. jobs not -- to finish the and get on with the business of the open border lobby and sell

us out. we now hear from all these converts to immigration enforcement in the republican party elite, many of them now running for president, that not only do they believe in securing the border first, but they believe deep in their hearts that what we really need is an entry-exit system, make sure that we approve who comes in, so all the overseers out. guess what -- it was republican party brokers and republican politicians who have helped over the last 20 years sabotage the implementation of that system. it is neither in the interest of big government or big business to do the job we demand them to do.

another broken promise -- we always hear in foreign rhetoric from people who have memorized it, found it is into their heads and delivered it with some sense of credibility, that they believe in protecting the american dream. stories, pretty everybody has got a story. it is my story, the story of every person in this room, that we cherish the american dream. we do not cash in in washington, d.c., and huddle in back rooms you want to talk about the elephant in the room? these are in the elephants in the back room who preach about the american dream and then do everything they can to stab us in the back.

at the intersection of the most important issues that i have covered in my career and dedicated so much of my life two, immigration and education, is the very important topic of the american worker. abstractionsh such that so many of these candidates talk about it. only this year have we finally like the firedle disney worker who was sabotaged h1-b policies, and he risked his life literally and his reputation to speak out

about what is happening. this is the subject of the latest book that my co-author, who was a former software program himself, witnessed this destruction over the last 20, 25 years. who went back to school to become a lawyer and so he could do what nobody else was doing in washington, representing american workers and american interests first. frustration, my ofstration as with so many you, over the course of these presidential, dreadful presidential cycles is, of course, we have a pageant of imperfects, and it is no clearer than on this issue. i had a reader several years ago send me a mockup of something i need every election cycle, nose --ps, because

it always feels like we got to do this, hold our nose. the irony is the gop elites who always been hold their nose will not do it themselves and they can or octave the choices they want -- will not hold their noses themselves when they do not get the choices they want. i will tell you on this particular issue, a foreign displacing's best and rightist high-skilled workers, there's a lot of confusion, slipping and flopping, but i welcome anyone who finally has seen the light and change their mind in the right direction as opposed to the wrong direction. ted cruz has a bill that he has cosponsored with jeff sessions to adopt the kind of reforms that we need to protect american workers. you have got kids and grandkids out there, right?

and if they are in the stem fields, they need to know what they are up against. believes inio truly protecting the american dream and the american worker, if he truly wants to distinguish himself from donald trump, who has a muddled message about this, as he did last night, sign onto ted cruz's reform bill. show me the money. do it. i want to leave on an inspiring note, because or than half of the cpac audience every year is young people. i told you at the beginning of my remarks that i am a movement conservative. are forwarded is, years are spent on the most mineal liberal bastions,

more than others. i graduated from oberlin college, ok? survived the culture of identity politics, and the thing about those campuses, those who are of right mind need to bond together. we know you are enemies are, the clear enemies who are sabotaging constitutional principles, we do not believe in equality of opportunity, who are essentially socialist overlords who are -- who are then brainwashing footsoldier's, marinated foot soldiers. and i want to tell you young people that whatever differences you have in the campaigns that you support that you are a movement conservative and i and a movement conservative the matter what gop candidate you support.

do not people tell you otherwise. impulse to excommunicate lifelong conservatives because you do not agree with who they have chosen for a particular candidate is as bad as anything i have seen from the empowering on the left. do not be elected. i know a man who came here as an immigrant with nothing, who came here legally, he spoke no english when he came, but talked itself -- talk himself in this by reading a dictionary, who started out with nothing, who did not get any government contract. anthony -- and i highlighted his store in a book i read last year. penny ofd to take a government money. do you believe in the american dream.

he fought stupid epa regulations. he invented a beautiful flashlight. many probably of you have multiple one ofs them in your house or car, without mag light flashlight. yearstill works at 85 old, visited his scores, has an all-american first, refused to outsource work to mexico. and he told me -- that as long as he grieves, american air as long, as he is alive, he will never give up, and neither will i, and neither should you. thank you, cpac. thank you, conservatives. god bless. [no audio]

♪ thank you very much. it is a pleasure for me to be here. i would like to ask you for a big applause for another great nation of latino americans like -- for today captured corruption, one of the architects of the socialism of the 21st century, and i promise that i was going to ask for the eplus. it is an honor for me to be here. 15ope that in the next

minutes i can clarify what is a panorama in latin america as conservatives and republicans and people who are trying to befriend free market can do with this bigger perspective. so let me start by that sorry, if we could go back. thank you. yes. i do not know where to point. sorry. the one that was before the street to start by 1989. 1989 is a year when the berlin all. , and two events happened today that the find the events of today, 2016. artist guerrillas -- marxist guerrillas -- and fidel castro is in a lot of trouble, and he to find out to

refinance the project of spreading socialism and communism over latin america. guerrillasxist trying to emily webcaster was doing. they know that through violence they will get to power. they need to use democracy. guerrillas, the commonest politico parties of latin america, that together in the civil rights of the that was called -- forum, they take the communist manifesto, mix it up with the hatred of private property, they mix of together and they come up with an agenda called the socialism of the 21st century with different steps to follow. the president elected in latin america take a plane and come to washington to celebrate the

washington consensus. and although right-wing swearent of the 1990's the article into freedom markets, and the quebec home and they start privatizing everything they see. the privatized electricity, telephone companies, whatever, you name it. but they did not free at. they only gave it -- and their partners. creating crony capitalism, corporate welfare. the thing is in the minds of the average latin american, capitalism does not work, free market is the worst thing ever even though we have never had free markets. the problem is this hatred and this exclusionist economy came up with 1998 chavez saying capitalism is not the way. the way is socialism the 21st century. roo romanis upheld as the

emperor. it is about manipulating people. now you have populism by saying you are too poor, too stupid to you need me, the messiah, to take care of you, to solve your problems. it starts with this speech from this hate speech rate people and people are selfless, these people are innocent everything that happened wrong then the country. people only need rights, and that is why these people are the worst. enemy has always been the united states, and i do not believe the united states is responsible for everything that has happened last him america. -- happened in a here. with these people, it started with a populist handbook.

you divide society with hate because a society that hates itself stops corporate. whose people? where do those people live? i would love to go to people's houses and knock on the doors and for people to go out, handsome guy people come and say, -- people are confused. hatred is spoken in your behalf. everyone speaks on your behalf, you want a different thing. no one knows what exactly what great so what is your real treat? that is not possible. people is just a word that politicians, politicians used to divide us into groups to hate each other. the second they come eliminate any opposition from the legitimate branch.

that havee countries got to socialism in the 21st century, you will not find one independent parliament does not exist. --n you go to the judges they are going to reopen a case to blame her. do not have any more independence of power strip the three branches of power and one dictator, and what do you do? you increase state employment. it was going to rebel and a system like that? you have constitutional forms to stay in power. the that has gotten more to the left in this is -- morales change the name of bolivia because he could not get theected, it is called

national state of bolivia. constitution, setting limits to private party becomes fundamental. small,companies, business, have been appropriated in venezuela. one million people have been killed by the regime because of politicians. then you eliminate freedom of the press and the three to freedom of speech. populism'sandbook, fuel is corruption because starts running all these lies that the messiah will give you while your rights are not respected. in my country, 17 people get killed daily, and there is one robbery every six months.

that does not at her as the populace giving away motorcycles. that does not matter. have in latinto america, with the movement i represent them is let's talk about populism, because republic offers you dialogue. it offers you a balance of power. citizens, life, liberty, and private property are in the face fundamental rights, and individuals are the most important when. we are sick of government that say they are for the people -- thank you very much -- and by doing so they violate the most important minority, the individual. then you have populism. populism does not care about dialogue is all manipulation. that -- speaks to

him like a little bird. you are my wife, you're going to be my next -- [indiscernible] about -- rationality zero, corruption, corporate welfare, that people confuse with free market, and free markets are the worst. this is not the worst. the worst is your creating a single that is secular regime -- that is damaging latin americans. when kids go to school without they are victims of the united -- united states, us think about whatever very they grew up having low self-esteem, and people with low self-esteem are insecure themselves.

you can grow into an entrepreneur is going to take risk. you have panic, risk-taking. self-esteem, insecurity in yourself, but you still want to be rich. helicoptersnt the and the women and the traveling, of course. what do do do in latin america if you grew up like this and you want to be rich? you get into politics. you go and run for mayor or congressman. who cares? once in power, you rock everyone, and with that money you get your company. there is no risk. if it is a failure, it is not your money. there, make sure that they can education continues. some examples. [indiscernible]

you see the faces over there. this is bolivia. they manipulate kindergarten kids into the story of morales. this is my favorite. chavez was one of the founding fathers of latin america, see him shaking hands while jesus christ of both of them. -- hugs both of them. his what kids are learning in latin america in 2016, when technology is supposed to be our answers. populism loves -- [indiscernible] so i gave a speech and i said, let's this mental populism 15technology, and there were

million people in latin america who said i agree. [applause] ms. alvarez: thank you. i have been here for the past two days, and i have seen how important for republicans is to understand that technology is the way of freeing our minds from the -- that has been implemented. latinos continue to escape this populism,, but they do not mind voting for populist campaigns once they are here. you know? -- and these latino women you know? so why is that? thank you. as they are used to it. but ran from the back home, when they get here, if you are going to give them free stuff, latinos will say, great.

they do not realize, they do not realize that they came there to be part of the american dream. that is because few of them know that what they were running away from was a functional republic. they do not realize it. why not? because they have been educated in -- they do not make the connection. states,ring the united there is rule of law. they only know they can make money, life is beautiful, they do not see the connection, and you are the only ones who can make that connection and heads using technology. my message is this -- latinos are the best supporters for the united states constitution because they come here to have the things that populist dictator spectrum are not guaranteeing -- life, liberty,

and private property. latinos still do not know their powers. they still do not have the connection. if you want to gain the latino vote, take away the constitution and joe to that, because those are the constitutions that are being dismantled in our countries, brazil, and israeli argentina, and the respect for life, liberty, and private property in order to have dictators. this time they are democratic -elected dictators. no one says anything because there were elections. if there is one message i can give to you, if you make this connection with latinos, they are going to reject populism in america, is also contagious, and

it is coming here. thank you very much. thank you. [no audio] [video clip] >> my parents came from mexico. they had no more than a third-grade education. they came for a better future, not only for their families. u.s.,ame over to the chasing that american dream. i would not be where i am today if it were not for my mom and my

dad. me education is the key to success. if you want to go somewhere in life, you have to go study, and and is what i pursed myself i graduated high school, and i was the first one out of my entire family to graduate college. jose who helpwas ed open opportunities, realizing i am a republican, he told about this program, which i did not know what was. he explained to me it was a scholarship for graham that wouldbe that program that shadow fieldworkers. i joined because i wanted an opportunity to make a difference in my community. fromow my parents came

nothing to something inspired me, just seeing with a second-grade education you can come to the u.s. and make something of yourself. people do not see anything in are andyou know who you where you came from, you are the one who will determine where you go in life. taught what my parents me, and they were the first teachers in my life. america's preferred media source or deep coverage on politics and policy for over 30 years. have a team of journalists to delivering news to every city and in every state and into 38 countries. we are the 70 most read news site in america. who are we? times,"hington

america's newspaper. audio] >> good afternoon, everybody. i am jason snead, and i am delighted to the attend this year with a terrific panel of experts.

we will talk about something which is sobering, property rights. before i turn it over to panelists, i would like to frame the issue. property rights are something that the founding fathers were deeply committed to. it, whereadison put an access of power prevails, property of no sort is duly respected. no man is safe in his opinions, his person, his faculties of or his possessions. the framers viewed property rights as natural rights, that were indistinguishable from and were fundamental to our other freedoms, like speech, expression, and religion. ability to own property, you're unable from and the fruit of the paper is the basis of a free society, and so it is only natural to conclude one of the most support from the government should be the protection of property rights. two centuries later we see many threats. some of them are over the

horizon and yet to emerge. unfortunately, a great many of those threats emanate from the government. able to engagebe in a discussion and some of the challenges facing property owners in the 21st centuries, as ranging from the police features of property, that police seizures, or to relate lecture will -- or to eliminate intellectual property. the first person will be how stratton.- hal .ext is clark neily maureen ohlhausen. last but not least is dr. , at the university

of baltimore. mr. stratton: i will talk about civil asset forfeiture. first, civil asset forfeiture is a procedure by which law & agencies can seize property they believe has been involved in a crime without charging anybody or convicting anybody. they proceed against the property, not the individual. it has become a big problem in our country. a lot of innocent people have had their properties seized. -- with aops law-enforcement officials seize that property, they keep the property in the police department or they keep the proceeds and then get to spend that money. there is no oversight it, and in mexico we do not know how they spend it. the other problem is that the

courts equitable sharing, and the federal government in the 1980's set up a program where if they forfeit the property, if the local government gives it to the feds, and there is a federal crime pledge, they will forfeit and kickback 80% to the law enforcement agencies, and law-enforcement agencies have come to rely on this as revenue. how did this get started? in the 1980's, we were fighting crime and drugs. i was in the legislature. i had a friend who ran the program. he said, listen, we can do this. anyway where we can start forfeiting civil property, against criminals, and it will be a great crime for anything. we did it. we thought was a good idea. we were all into crime-fighting. all against crime. i went to the attorney general's office. we never used it, never came up. was not a big problem.

years, and we0 would hear about these horrific situations where people would lose their property. the courts would make decisions where owners could not assert their rights in proceedings, and things started getting out of my. we found ourselves in new mexico again, and at the legislature, and he decided we needed to do something about this. he ended up being the chief staffer on the judiciary committee, and we won -- iraq and won the house in new mexico for the first time in 60 years last year, so it was a long haul. we hope we can keep it. he drafted the bill. i was paying around as a lobbyist and tried to help on this, because we felt very bad that we were guys that were responsible for putting this in place. went to one committee hearing, and here's the key, i testify

a.c.l.u.epeal, the testified for the repeal. and then the speaker of the made the motion to pass the bill, and it passed unanimously. i knew at that point we had not lobbied it, but we were good shape. we then went to the senate. there was another hearing. they got it out last morning. unanimously. we cannot believe it. we do not think we had a chance when this started. he has a chance. the governor had 20 days to sign the bill, and i want to thank the institute for justice and everybodynd cato, weigh in on this with the governor, and on the last morning, she signed the bill. so we repeal civil asset

forfeiture in new mexico. at least that property is going to be safe traveling through new mexico picked in the follow-up, does my time is up and in the follow-up -- you think we are done? we are not done. i will let you know if there is more that needs to be done until the questions. thanks. mr. neily: america is the most prosperous nation in history of the world. not because we are smarter or more virtuous. it is because the founders of our country got something right from the beginning, and that is the sanctity of property rights. that is the idea that is woven into our constitution, that the government may not take from you what you have earned a good reason. that is what is in the constitution, not how policy is today. theeiture is an example of

oil spill abandonment of the sanctity of property rights as effective in the constitution. it is not just the constitution. ofis no accident that 1/3 the 10 commandments have to do with property rights, talking about not stealing and not coveting what is not yours. what about government today? does ours government steal what is not belonging to them? absolutely. civil forfeiture is one of the examples of the covetousness on for the part of government that i am familiar with and have encountered. i will stand here before you and tell you that in my judgment civil forfeiture is the most corrupt and corrupting policy in america today. it enables law enforcement to take from honest, law-abiding people property that they have earned, money that they are using to run their business or for their the table

children, and take it without charging you with a crime, let alone century conviction. they are able to take that property from innocent law-abiding americans based and then good luck trying to get it back. it will hear defenders of civil forfeiture to you, you don't have to worry about civil forfeiture being used to take property from innocent people because there's a process they can use to get it back. that process makes the tax code look like a children's nursery rhyme. litigate civil forfeiture cases and i have tango with the government and we have gotten the property back every time. policy is sothe blatantly abused that not even the government can defend it when good lawyers get involved. that usually doesn't happen.

the average law-abiding, hard-working american is not going to be represented in court when the government comes to take their stuff. tipl forfeiture is just the of the iceberg. there is all kinds of other ways in which the government takes from us what we have earned. on oneto briefly touch other example for those of you who are familiar with eminent domain. in 2005, the institute for justice litigated. washat case the issue whether the public use provision of the fifth amendment that says the government may only take your property using eminent domain for a public use like a road or a school, whether that provision permits the government to take homes and businesses in a working-class neighborhood bulldoze the entire neighborhood and convey that property to a predatory corporation, in this case pfizer, to build yuppyville.

the u.s. supreme court said that's just fine, margin of 5-4. the people of the united states raised up and expressed their dismay and frustration. it is the most reviled case in the history of the united states . >> thank you. i would like to talk about the work that the institute for justice does. be if are people who would not for them, they would be destitute. they do fantastic work on civil forfeiture. >> is a pleasure to be here at incrediblycuss the important issue of property rights. it's no exaggeration to say that property rights are the cornerstone of liberty. our founding fathers recognized that truth, which remains as valid today as it was then. anyone doubting that proposition need take a look around the

world. in such countries people have no recourse against theft of their property, whether by the government or their politically favored neighbors. in america we work for what is ours, and the law protects ownership rights accordingly. but even property rights are not immune to the political whims of the time. in some quarters today, activists call for well -- large-scale wealth distribution through punitive taxes. incursions and into ownership rights taken many forms right civil asset forfeiture can be problematic, and so too must protect owners against improper taking by the government and clark has so eloquently laid out. i wish to address a different equally important topic and property law. that's the role of patents and intellectual property. although patents seem far removed from ownership rights in your home and car, the principles are remarkably

similar. belief is that owners should have the ultimate say in how their property is used. thomas edison and the wright brothers, inventors today cover new insights. companies spend billions of dollars on research. when society awards and innovator for a patent, others should not be able to use that information free of charge. just because your neighbor may not take your house, so your competitor cannot copy your patented technology. protect is it right to ownership interests in technology, doing so is critical for u.s. innovation policy. the u.s. economy is and has long been the most innovative in the world. and that is no accident. it reflects the long-standing constitutionally recognized need for intellectual property rights. yet the patent system today

faces an unprecedented threat, especially from the left. some economists, academics, and policymakers have called for the outright abolition. others want to dilute patents so many inventors can no longer effectively enforce their rights. that is folly. intellectualong property rights is not simply a moral imperative, it is critical to protecting u.s. innovation. our recurring claim from the left is that conservatives support the patent system blindly without regards to evidence. i'm here to tell you that that is not true. powerful evidence and theories supporting the need for strong intellectual property systems. for those who would've valid patents are those who cannot prove their case. i recently studied economic literature on the relationship and economicts

growth. my article will be published in the "harvard journal of law and technology." support for patent protection. at the country level, there is thathelming evidence padded strength correlates positively with r&d expenditures and economic growth. what does that mean? countries like america that generously protect their inventors tend to have stronger economies. they also tend to have companies that spend more on innovation. there is much other evidence as well as, and research shows that without hatton's, innovation and critical areas of the economy like pharmaceuticals would grind the halt trade i understand professor who has expertise in this area may have more to add. as with everything in life, the intellectual property system today is not perfect. there is some evidence that the

patent and trademark office sometimes makes mistakes, awarding patents it should not. yet the supreme court has recently limited the harm caused and that is the right approach. deserving inventors weren't strong protection -- warrant strong protection. to conclude, the anti-patent crowd is wrong. we need to honor property rights itall their forms, whether be in your house or your car or your invention. thank you for your attention and i look forward to the discussion. >> thank you. greg? >> thank you for having me here. i want to echo much of what has been said before. i will begin with a personal story. i grew up in the former soviet union and came here when i was 13. my dad was an engineer. is, why did the soviet union lose the cold war? is it because soviet engineers were dumber?

they were not. is it because people do not understand technology? no. dids because people there not have private property rights. there was no incentive for them to innovate. my dad, who has a number of patents to his name tag in the soviet union, he got no rewards for them other than a token and a few rubles at the end of the month when he got his patent. it did not matter whether he brought any benefit to the public. the reward, the token rubles, was the same. some rubles are better than none, but he did not care whether his innovation does something good or does not. things are different here. one of my good friends i went to law school with told me he visited the former soviet union in the mid-1980's. american high an

school students, they took him all around. he said even in the mid-1980's, he said he was stunned. on the desk of that party official there were five telephones. with fiveve one phone lines? no incentive to innovate to provide technology. he had five different phones. the reason we won the cold war, the reason we are the best and most prosperous country in this world is because we protect private property rights from your house to your patents. i know patent law is not something that gets people's blood boiling. sometimes it should. congress has been on a rampage. both republicans and democrats have been bamboozled i anti-patent people. they have been bamboozled by people who think patents are the problem. they have bamboozled --

you are not going to have the drug to cure cancer tomorrow. they have been considering bills to weaken the patents, and that must stop, or else we are going to trade. trade cheapero drugs today for us, for the drugs and technology and the better phones that will help our kids, that will help our kids advance, help our kids have better lives than we do, help our kids congress -- conquer various diseases. bad actors. like there are bad actors in there are people who use guns improperly. you ban guns? theirare people who use cars improperly, people who drive drunk. you would ban cars? we do not. the same thing applies to patents.

simply because there are a few bad actors here and there is not a reason to slaughter the very goose that keeps laying the golden egg and has been doing so for the past 200 years. >> thank you all for those remarks. i would like to begin discussion with the question for all of you. midst ofviously in the a political cycle, and we have seen the issue of property rights come up in some unusual ways. we have one candidate that believes in a strong eminent domain powers so the government can seize property for purely private development trade on the other hand we have somebody critiquing the entire capitalistic system and calling for a weakening of property rights for everybody in the name of so-called economic justice. both of these candidates have won broad support in the electorate. does that suggest to you that americans are losing interest in private property or the defense of private property rights? >> i would hope not.

times beingften misled by false statistics. if you say them with conviction and throw out big numbers, it seems to solve the problem. people start scratching their heads and saying, maybe it's a problem. the problem not is that people are losing faith in private robert e. lee. they are being misled by academics who are not doing a good job of being misled by people who are promising them. >> we take our private property rights, our civil rights, the bill of rights for granted. it is there. we have protected them for almost 200 years. not many people are subjected to condemnation.

to many people are subjected having our car being pulled over and taken away from them by the police. we are so much into our everyday lives trying to make the system work, and justifiably. maybe we are taking it for granted too much. the time is coming and we had better to -- better wake up. >> the first eminent domain case had, itice institute wasn't the people of new jersey that went in to help them do that, it was the atlantic city city council that donald trump went to and said, will you use your eminent domain's power to take this woman's house. they said, absolutely. it was the judiciary who forced him to back off. it's not the people who are interested in violating each other's property rights. it is the government that is manipulated into doing it. we need an independent judiciary to say no. [applause]

my expertise is really and markets. issue of property rights are fundamentally intertwined with the idea of free markets in the u.s. tohink that we need reestablish that link that the reason you have your property rights and the free market working together so well is the owner gets to decide whether to enter that market, whether to sell that right, and at what price. those two things are so important to be reconnected because fundamentally, that is the point of our economic and political system, is this liberty approach. >> you alluded to this in your remarks. the great work done in new sequel going's a

on right now. would you like to give us the rundown? that question.r some things come up after you win the fight. the first thing that came up was the city of albuquerque decided they were exempt from state law and they were going to continue to forfeit cars. not only that, they bought a new facility to keep the cars in, they were forfeiting so many. thank goodness for the institute for justice. they have sued the city of albuquerque. that's number one, the local governments. under typical state law they would be preempted. two is that you are going to see it come up again. tol was introduced again

reinstitute civilized forfeiture in this legislative session. .t undid all the good we did it was a financial session and they needed a message from the governor to get that through the legislature, and they did not get the message. i suspect we will see it next time. finally, after the law went into effect the treasuries office saying we don't get to keep the money anymore, you guys deal with it. what did he do? he went to the legislature and ask to increase his budget so he would have more money to deal with the forfeited assets. got attle isn't over, we lot more work to do, and i hope everyone of you and every one of the states out there we'll see what you can do about this. this is easily the most obvious violation of civil rights that i

think is going on to the average citizen out there. you mention that forfeiture is not the only way the government can take your property. space, innent domain the constitution there has to be eminent domain. where do you enjoy the line between a legitimate use of that power and illegitimate use of that power? >> the fifth amendment to the constitution provides that private property shall not be taken for public use without just compensation. domain.lies eminent you can't build a highway zigzagging around every property someone does not want to sell. but you have to draw a line that protects the institution of private property rights. injustice o'connor warned her dissenting opinion that if you rule the way the supreme court does, there's not a church, a home, or small business in america that could

not make more money as a strip mall or a giant corporation. on the line and a place that makes it impossible for these predatory businesses and people who want to pervert property rights to take what doesn't .elong to them when you have pfizer lobbying to bulldoze an entire neighborhood for homes for pfizer executives, that's not a hard case. i would like to pivot to the intellectual property space. we've all heard of some of the famous patent cases that deal with something like a rectangular foam with rounded edges. that idea does not seem particularly novel. do you think it's too easy to get a patent today? >> i don't think it's too easy to get a patent overall.

there are instances where patents have been granted inappropriately or two brothers. -- too broadly. what is the answer to that? do you make intellectual property law not a respected right anymore? there are processes to make sure that patents are appropriate, and there have been stats in the law to do that. arguments that some patents are two broad and some patents are too easy to get are being used as a way to undermine all patents. >> i agree with that. of course there are mistakes made. they may make mistakes just like they make mistakes in other areas. but, we have judges, we have litigation.

nobody said once a patent is granted it should be valid forever without a challenge. by all means, bring a challenge to a court. -- that provey has to have some sort of standard. people have poured their life savings, their efforts into getting it. willy-nillying it is a problem. >> i would like to take the remainder of our time to ask you all a question that would give you a chance to get out of the particular areas you have been talking about. looking ahead five or 10 years, what do you think the biggest challenge to property rights will be? >> one of the biggest challenges is something i've already seen. as part of my job i've gone to china six times in the past two years. devalueare doing to property rights here is echoing around the world.

other countries are looking and saying, we would like access to u.s. technology. we would like to be able to copy that. whatever we do here has ramifications around the world. >> i would echo that. the biggest problem we have is that property rights are enshrined in our constitution but not by and large enforced by our judiciary. for the last 40 or so years we have judiciary that has rendered property rights meaningless. either we will have a supreme court that respects and respects way the rights the constitution does, or we will have a court full of yes women and yes-men who rubberstamp whatever the government says. >> the biggest threat to our property rights is our government. we need to make sure we elect the right people and make sure you get the right judges in

place. >> that does it for our panel today. please thank me in -- please join me in thanking our panelists. [applause] [no audio] ♪ [video clip]

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>> our next panel is, timeless risible, the reagan legacy endures. please welcome the founders of young america. [inaudible] ♪

>> all right. >> i have white sox on. >> good afternoon. does cpac still appreciate ronald reagan? [applause] that's great to hear. ronald reagan played a big role in formulating cpac and having cpac successful, first as former governor of california when he started coming regularly to cpac in the 1970's, and eventually as president of the united states. it's appropriate that we have a cpac banquet in ronald reagan's honor. >> one way to know what ronald

reagan thought of cpac is in his own words. ronald reagan wrote about cpac in his speaking my mind, where he had his top speeches. a couple of them at least were audiences,- to cpac particularly the one in 1981 and again in 1985. when ronald reagan wrote, this is what he said about a cpac audience. he said, they were the people who fought for the cause of individual liberty and freedom when government seems to be getting more powerful every day. they were the people who persevered. i can't tell you how much i admire them for their tenacity and their hope. we were often ridiculed and usually dismissed. such treatment only strengthened our ideals and our resolve. interesting before his -- printed a copy of the 1985 cpac

speech, ronald reagan said these friends were everything i was trying to do. him could serve as the inaugural address to his second term. cold daycall, it was a and he did not give a traditional inaugural address. that's how much cpac meant to ronald reagan. we have a tremendous panel today of reagan experts. each is a reagan scholar in their own right. in "the new york times." all of them have multiple books on ronald reagan. let me introduce them from my left, you're right. peter sweitzer is currently the president of government institutional -- accountability institute.

's books include "victory, he's written" and a couple of books with cap weinberger. middle seat is craig shirley, the founder of shirley and bannister. at thehe reagan scholar eureka college, ronald reagan's college, as well as a trustee at eureka. he has a number of books that include "reagan's revolution," yearsast act, the final in the emerging legacy of ronald reagan." gore is theg professor of political science at grove city. [applause] by ourlready known audience. he's the author of "god and and a bookan," closely related to ronald reagan, and "11 principles of a

reagan conservative." i would be remiss if i did not they alsoat cooperated on a book, "the reagan presidency, addressing demand -- the man and his legacy." we have a panel of outstanding individuals. i would like to ask them each to share with us what they think is the most important reagan principal for today's day and age. we will begin with peter, craig, and then paul. character say the reagan quality i think is most important was reagan's fearlessness. that's not just in terms of principles and ideas, but his physical courage. there's a story that his aide told us, which was in reagan's way humorous about when reagan was governor of california, he was visiting the university of california berkeley and there were aggressive, violent

protesters outside. security wanted to take reagan behind the back of the building. reagan said no, i'm going to go out to the front. they are kind of walking out there and the crowd is chanting, "make love, not war." i'm nervous here. reagan says, don't worry about it right keep walking. there is a whiff of marijuana in the air. the crowd is sort of closing in on reagan. lynn is getting worried. reagan says, don't worry about it. to him andly turned said, don't worry about it. they don't look like they're capable of doing either one. [laughter] that's the coolness under fire that reagan exhibited and that is a very important quality today. >> sounds like he would have fit into last night's presidential debate. [laughter] time in high school

physics when i did not fall asleep, i remember the professor saying that power can be neither destroyed nor created. it can only be moved around. reagan was a child of the enlightenment. he did not believe that man was at the center of the universe, but he believed in the god inspired individual and thus was very much infused by the american revolution. ultimately he believed in the individual. the individual is more important than the state, the spiritual individual is more important than the state. these radioall commentaries, you look at his speeches as president. as a matter of fact, it was cpac here in 1982. he was making the case for his tax cuts. know, they are about getting the economy moving. but there tax cuts are really

about moving power and authority away from the state and towards the individual. now, that's a very profound thought. two, who talks like that anymore? who understands the allocation of power the way it was intended by the framers and founders was not to be concentrated in washington, but instead among the many and various individuals and states and localities? reagan was far more intellectual. case, i think we almost over intellectualized reagan to get to the point where we forget, like george schultz says -- this guy was a lot of fun. reagan was fun, and that's part also of the true american conservative, it's not just about individuality, but it's also about the happy individual.

obviously that came to the mourning in america and other things associated with reagan, optimism was not just because he was a happy guy, because it was a part of his ideology. he knew that happy people were productive people and productive people produce growing economies. growing economies produce the money to buy the material to build up the military to go on and defeat an evil empire. he knew it all started with the individual. >> you wrote a book on 11 principles. be mostf them would important in today's age, which one would it be? >> i can't choose one. one, a character trait would be as likability, and as winsome, quality. if you're going to nominate a republican to win in 2016, he has to be liked by the wider population. [applause]

you don't win 49 out of 50 states by only winning a narrow group of conservatives or republicans. but in terms of principles, reagan understood that freedom needs space. reagan talked about the twin beacons of faith and freedom that bright in the american sky. if you have freedom without faith, then freedom is rudderless. freedom without faith is the las vegas strip rather than the city of god. reagan a number of times gave speeches where he said, each reinforces the other. each one needs the other. may governspotism without faith, but liberty cannot. faith is needed in democratic societies more than any other. in a free society you have the freedom to do almost anything you want. that being the case, you need

the moral compass that comes with faith to navigate freedom in the proper way. >> good. reagan's farewell address from the oval office urged the american people to reach out and teach young people about american history. he is part of american history today. at the history courses today, a good indication of what is taught, it can be found in the major study guides, something i used extensively --n i was in college, about kaplan, barron's and princeton the big three, they dominate the market. here's what they said about ronald reagan. they said he was an admirer of herbert hoover. they said he was a believer in trickle-down economics. they said his tax cuts were principally for corporations, but the implication was it was for rich corporations. they basically suggested he did not win the cold war, it would

have happened anyway that gorbachev deserves the main credit, and two of the three quoted vice president bush or later president bush in an inappropriate time, after the end of the reagan career has criticized economic policy as voodoo economics. which of the misconceptions about ronald reagan is being taught in american history today, and disturbs each of you the most? any of those? me, the one is the notion that he's a simpleton, that he did not understand that much, he was an actor who read from cue cuards. -- card. the history on this is clear. the work that paul and craig have done clearly indicate, this

was a guy animated by ideas. more so than any other 20th century american politician. he was motivated and animated by ideas. the notion of reagan was a simpleton who did not understand ideas, wasn't concerned about them to me is the one that matters the most. that is what made him so powerful. he said, i'm not a great man, i just believe in great ideas. i think humility is a great refresher on reagan. the notion that individual freedom, liberty -- the things that paul writes about in his book, the 11 principles of a reagan conservative, he embraced them and understood them in a deep and profound philosophical way. reagan said in 1964, he said the trouble with our liberal friends isn't that they are ignorant.

that is the problem with american high school college textbooks. i looked at one of my daughter's a couple years ago. it was filled with errors. as they wrote reagan history -- if they wrote reagan history, the three of us would be out of jobs. we have to write history because of american history is being treated so badly by the people who write high school, college textbooks. [applause] but peter is right, it is that if you go through his radio commentaries, if you go through his columns, which by the way, he wrote all his radio --mentaries, 999 of them 1006 of them -- they were five days a week, all through the 1970's.

ands in college at the time my father listening avidly, every time at noon on whn radio, ronald reagan, there would be a five minute commentary. in those days it wasn't like now, technology where you push a button and they send out an audio feed to 1000 different radios. they also did it on old records that had to be sent out from harry o'connor's studio in los angeles from the 1970's. you try to write five minute commentaries every week and you do that week after week after week. most of the time he wrote them himself. peter's right. --you look at these columns and he listed these radio commentaries -- he spoke at cpac every year from 1974 to 1988.

even when he missed cpac, he sent recorded messages. emerson and he quotes franklin, he quotes thomas payne. he was probably the most intellectually curious president of the 20th century, maybe since abraham lincoln. news isd, the good because they get along, we have to get a ride. the three of us would be writing books about rutherford b. hayes. >> he wrote his first inaugural. he wrote all of his own before hecertainly up was president he did not have speechwriters. he wrote an enormous amount of letters throughout his life, including as president.

she thinks he may have written more letters than presidents since jefferson, which is true. i've sat in the reagan library and just tried to -- some of the real gems you find out about letters to ruth wilson of court alene, idaho. letters to bresnan for thatcher or john paul the second -- trying to sit there in the reagan library and read through, i would get through two or three. there are just that many. he must've written four or five a day. when you look at his schedule as president, it's unbelievably rigorous. he had the energy level of a 30-year-old. the notion that he was a dummy

is probably the most ridiculous thing. it's been put to rest. flackr people, if you get from your professors on this, ask them how does a president, a conservative like reagan win 44 out of 50 states against an incumbent and then 49 out of 50 reelected, when there's a majority of the nation is registered democrat? .nd they won in a landslide if your professor thinks reagan was an extremist, your professor is an extremist. [applause] >> i appreciate your point about the letters. it's not just one letter and it was done. at the reagan ranch we have a years ofn, 50 correspondence. and a lot of these cases there's withy sustained, starting a young person and then going through the balanf thf r time.

one of the big issues in washington today is the ability of congress and the president to get along. one of the current popular items to say about ronald reagan is he knew how to get along with typical neil. -- tip o'neill. mythical,lmost become theoretically. what is your take on reagan's ability to work with congress, and the flip side of that was congress particularly in the last two years when it was totally democrat, willing to work with ronald reagan? >> that's a great point. i think the democratic party in the 1980's, you had this strange creature called the conservative democrat, was willing to work with reagan. you don't have that today. think reagan had an ability to stick to his principles and still get along personally with his opponent. the example i would give is not

congress, but during the cold war with gorbachev. gorbachev and reagan got along well. if you look at the transcripts of when they met at these attings, reagan would look gorbachev with a smile and say, let me tell you why we despise your system. he had those kinds of conversations. formulation for reagan is he did not compromise on his principles, he recognized sometimes he had to compromise on policies to get them done. ability to get along with people he did not necessarily agree with, which i think is a character quality that you don't see in the white house today. >> we failed to mention the diaries. the diaries are also very important. reagan wrote them for 8 years religiously every night and they were released the last couple of years. it's a treasure trove of information about people, places. but also there was a lot of humor in there. he had a bad meeting with a

senator from connecticut who was a very liberal republican. he was very large, he was very pompous. reagan wrote in his diary and called him a pompous fathead. he had been a pain in the neck at a cap not meeting. another time he called him a -- cabinet meeting. another time he called him a schmuck. we spent so much time pushing reagan mythology, this idea the reagan and tip o'neill were great friends. o'neill in his autobiography "man of the house" devoted an entire chapter to writing the most awful personal things about not just ronald reagan, that mrs. reagan too. he called her the queen of beverly hills and said he was the dumbest man he had ever served under as speaker of the house. idea that they got along, they only did two deals together.

they did social security, which reagan knew they had to do. the political conditions were not there. he knew what he could do and what he could not do. he could not reform social security. he changed his position on that in the 1960's and he knew the political environment was such an the children of the new deal still believed in the social security system and that it would be there to provide for their retirement. he went along with the tax increase. this idea that reagan and tip o'neill were pure junking friends is just -- it's a complete myth. it has been pushed by chris matthews, another leftist historian, and other people. tha'ts true. never trust the liberal with history. [laughter] if you want to look for a bipartisan -- especially

conservative history, if you want to look for bipartisan cooperation, you have a much better example in built clinton and newt gingrich in the 114th congress. reagan got stuff through congress almost in spite of tip o'neill. o'neill was retiring. as peter mentioned, the bull weevil democrats. he did not get it because of any of the great love and affection between himself and tip o'neill. >> your take on this? >> reagan was incredibly charitable to people he disagreed with. that is really something that candidates today can learn from. he was a liberal in hollywood in the 1940's and 1950's, he called himself a hemophiliac liberal, a bleeding heart liberal.

for reagan, he would often say of people who disagreed with him, they just don't understand. he did not ascribe to them evil motives. he had been there. he had been deluded himself. reagan once found himself a couple of times in the 1940's speaking to communist front groups that he thought were progressive groups. he had been suckered a number of times himself. he was very good at that. during the campaign ronald reagan's 11th commandment, thou shall not speak ill of another republican -- [applause] got to say this. ronald reagan would never be in a debate with fellow republicans, call the guy to his left a liar and spin to his right and call the other guy a joke artist. it would have never happened. [applause]

>> there's been a lot done to recognize ronald reagan. a lot of highways across the country. young american foundation. what do you think reagan would perceive as the best way to recognize the presidency? of ideas.was a man he would be appreciative of everyone here carrying the torch of liberty. the things that matter to reagan, his faith and family and for any of you out there who have not been to the seean ranch, if you want to reagan as he was, you have to go to the ranch in santa barbara. you've been to the reagan ranch? >> you go to cpac and you go there. >> it's a tremendous opportunity to see reagan stripped down as he was.

he built himself. i guess the question is his place in history. this was a prideful man. a liberal historian and friend of ours passed away several years ago. he was the official chronicler of the american left in the 20th century. he wrote books about the american labor movement. his last book is called "ronald reagan, freedom and the making of history. this liberal professor comes to the conclusion that ronald reagan is one of our four greatest residents. lincoln, orton, fragment roosevelt, he saved or the many people, which is best test of an american president. we have to go to reagan himself. he said he felt in his farewell a dress not only the economic vitality, but the restoration of

were two of his greatest legacies as far as his presidency. but don't get this idea -- reagan was humble, but he was also very prideful. in 1992i was in houston at the republican convention, the democratic convention had just taken place and the democrats were trying to take credit for the fall of communism. saysn addressing the crowd , who exactly do they mean by we? he never said -- it was george mcgovern he said, we would crawl on our hands and knees to hanoi for peace. soviets wereed evil, the united states was good, and the good must defeat evil. but he also believed that he was destined. he was a very prideful man.

this false modesty is silly. >> we have about 2 minutes. reagan called for a politics of principal and principled politics. he gave a great speech at cpac in february 1977. reagan said, conservatism is this. the principles of conservatism are sound because they're based on what men and women have discovered through experience and not just one generation or a dozen, but all the combined experience of mankind. when we conservatives say we know something about political affairs and what we know can be stated as principles, we are saying that the principles we hold dear are those that have been found through experience to be ultimately beneficial for individuals. we believe in eternal, timeless, immutable truths. you don't come up with a new right and a new idea and a new definition when you stumble out of starbucks with a grunt a

latte. -- grande latte. biblical law, natural law. demand from your politicians, especially republicans who call themselves conservatives, what are the principles? is the person a johnny-come-lately to this? what do they really believe? reagan understood this. >> if it a few just have to give the title of your reagan book you would recommend to the audience, what would it be? paul: i would say "11 principles of a reagan conservative." >> craig? >> craig: my next reagan book. aboutzvous with destiny," the 1980 campaign. everything comes into focus in that campaign. that's one of the most important campaigns in american history. >> peter? 's battleeagan's war,"

against communists in hollywood. h of these three speakers have written great books. they all speak about ronald reagan on college campuses. i know you all speak for young america's foundation and go to college campuses while you teach. craig, you teach every day. we appreciate that. thank you for being with us here today. [applause] ♪

♪ [video clip] the'm only going to tell story once carried one morning my room fell to the side. [inaudible] >> i was just 14. god choose me if i'm not strong enough? >> you must trust god with everything. >> what will you tell our little

boy? >> keep your power inside you. >> there are rumors of a boy. >> what about them? >> he will deliver us. >> we come for the boy named jesus.

temple.in the who are you? >> he's just a child. >> he's not just a child. [applause] >> ladies and gentlemen, please welcome the president of the heritage foundation, jim demint. ♪ [applause] mr. demint: hey, folks. thank you!

what a great crowd. what a great welcome. thank you so much. what a crazy year. i sense a bit of a rebellious spirit here at cpac. have you felt it at all? ofe than a decade frustration and disappointment by conservatives has led to outright rebellion across america against the status quo here in washington. washington, the whole washington establishment, the political consultants, the media pundits, have been wrong about what americans want. and they still don't get it. are sick andves tired of business as usual in washington. and we are not going to take it anymore. i think that's why we are here. how many of you feel that way today?

how many of you feel that way today? we're just not going to take it anymore. i've had a chance to watch from inside congress and from outside washington. i want to set the record straight about what is really going on in this year's election. i ran for congress in 1998 with the slogan, "to bring freedom home." this meant to move dollars and decisions out of washington, back to states, back to communities, and back to the people. i thought all republicans believed that. you know, i also thought republicans wanted to stop wasteful spending, to balance the budget, to make health insurance affordable and portable for every american, to reduce taxes for hard working americans, to keep our promises to seniors and to veterans, and to control our borders. i thought all republicans wanted that. republicans at said they wanted but it's not what republicans did when we had the majority in congress and when we had the white house. those of us who tried to keep our promises to voters were

made out to be villains. and, you know, i was once dressed down by a senior republican senator in front of all my colleagues after i endorsed and raised financial for a few young conservative candidates for the senate. you may know some of their names but i won't mention them today. the official republican senate committee had endorsed more liberal candidates because i was told my candidates could not win in these states that were more moderate. all of the discussion was about how republicans could get to 60 votes in the senate. this senior leader, he waggede his finger at me, and he said, demint, you don't understand how washington works. it's not about the principles. it's about the numbers. that's what's wrong with the whole republican party inside

washington today. and, folks, too many republican leaders don't believe conservative ideas and candidates can win. we proved them wrong. during obama's presidency conservative ideas and replaced 11 ve governors, 13 democratic senators, 6 house seats, 913 state legislator seats, and have given them majorities in 30 state legislatures. that's what conservative ideas will do. and think of this. just last month west virginia became the 26th state to pass a right-to-work law. [applause] six states have defunded planned parenthood since the

nfamous baby parts videos. many states have rejected common core and replaced them with ideas like education savings accounts. and 21 states, 21 states have passed a religious freedom act to protect the religious convictions of its citizens. [applause] now, these are all ideas that win elections and they make life better for every american. it's long pastime that the republicans in washington wake up to the values and the principles that americans xpect and deserve. conservatives were patient with politicians in washington far too long, but after all the bailouts in the last year, of the bush administration, all the special favors, and after the obama care take over of health care, after the dodd frank takeover of our financial

industry, and a trillion, several trillion dollar a year deficits, it was time for a little takeover of our own as conservatives. conservatives revolted with the tea party in 2010. some of you were there. i saw you out there. even hoe the tea partyers gave the republicans the majority in the house of representatives the republican leadership wanted nothing to do with them when they got there and actually tried to crush these new conservatives. it was frustrating because the tea party represented the big so of diverse -- big tent of diverse americans republicans said they wanted. two years later when the republicans tried to take the white house back from barack obama, republicans still wanted nothing to do with those grass roots activists that helped give them the majority. they listened to the washington consultants. they ran a bland, middle of the

road campaign for presidency in 2012. and without bold conservative ideas to counter and the grass roots activists that helped them two years before to counter obama's ground game, republicans lost big time. obama got another four years. but conservatives didn't give up. in 2013 a lot of you will remember while republican leaders in washington were telling us that obama care was settled law, conservatives organized a nationwide effort o defund obama care. it was the only way that republicans could stop this destructive law from calcifying around our health care system. all the republican establishment, the downtown cronies, the media, they all claimed taking a stand against obama care would hurt the republicans in 2014. but republicans had their best

election in decades in 2014. they won the majority in the senate. they added to their tea party majority in the house. who's hurting now? who's hurting now? perhaps eric kanter and john boehner? they started out to take us down. that's not what happened. because this force is growing around the country. the washington establishment, the consultants, the republican leadership in washington said they won in 2014 because they beat conservatives with more moderate candidates. that's what they said. that was their assessment of the race. but senators like tom cotton and joni ernst didn't run on oderate ideas in 2014.

[applause] this year the leading republican candidates are running on our conservative agenda to stop illegal immigration, repealing and replacing obama care, replacing common core with more education choice, balancing our budget and moving programs back to the states, reducing the size of the federal government, and creating more opportunities for all americans. that's what they're running on. they're standing with hard working, tax paying, middle class americans against the

special favors for political cronies of both parties. that's what they're running on why they're leading this year. that's what we do at the heritage foundation. that's what you all do every day. opportunity for all. favoritism for none. opportunity for all. favoritism for none. [applause] if americans know we really believe that, really mean it, they will support our ideas. this is our cry. this is our promise. conservative ideas will achieve the promise of the american dream. conservative values, principles, and policies will make life better for every american. this is not about politics. it's about people. it's about improving the quality of life for everyone. friends, the political parties and the candidates will do their thing. but let's not forget that we are part of a battle of ideas

for the heart and soul of the american people. we are the foot soldiers and the leaders of this conservative movement. our job at heritage and your job wherever you're stationed in this battle is to make sure americans know that our values, principles, and policies are what made our country exceptional, so strong, and so prosperous. if we do our job right, if we continue to grow and build this conservative movement, the candidates will run on our ideas and they will win. then and only then can we reclaim america. please pray for our country, folks. thank you! [applause] thank you! thanks, folks! [applause] ♪ ♪

>> we knew that we could get the best political education ere at cpac.

>> we're coming to cpac. >> this is even better than chool! >> so many things i can tell you about your dad and i'm so demrad you're asking this question because i know a lot about your dad. first of all, your dad likes to stay up really late into the night playing video games and i bet if you ask him if you can do the same he'll say yes. try that. also, your dad can make america great again which means a lot to a lot of people out there. you should be very proud.

finally the greatest thing about your dad is he actually lets your mommy believe he does hat she tells him to do. ! and now introducing our dad att schlapp. ♪ ♪ >> well, hello, conservatives!

it has been a long seven years. obama's radical policies are hurting us. we feel defeated. our economy is stagnant. our military is under funded and our veterans feel forgotten. our faith is not respected or protected. and what's the state of the american family? we all know that without strong families we will parish. americans want to feel strong again, safe again, confident again, and free again. that's fair. that's fair. it's a price of freedom, my riend. all of us are worried that

god's blessings are fading. that our constitution is under attack. we fear radical, islamic terror will invade us and bloated government addicted to controlling our lives will destroy us. and congress, filled with many strong conservatives, but let's face it. congress refuses to use all its powers to stop obama, and he's changed the game on all of us. you know, people talk about angry and frustrated voters. who can blame us? you know, we have a president who thinks that none need contraception coverage. he thinks iran should get nukes. he thinks that when we have terror on our soil, that it's workplace violence. and he refers to the butchers at planned parenthood as just doing the lord's work.

there is so much confusion these days that even high school boys and girls don't know what locker room to use anymore. and don't get me started on the supreme court. let me be clear, mr. president. you will not fill the scalia seat with an eric holder! [cheering] [applause] president obama. he shattered the model of what it means to unite americans in a common purpose. you know, he deserves a olitical ph.d in political

mass, because with him it's all about division. let me ask you a question. how many of you listen to rush limbaugh? you like rush? [applause] because it's no surprise mercy and i listen to rush. and other day we were listening and a caller, he just nailed it. you know what he said about how he feels? we are tired of feeling unimportant. we feel like we carry the whole country on our backs. do any of you feel the same way? [applause [you know who understood this? ronald reagan understood this. he understood the sound of the frustration of the american people when he spoke with that reassuring and inspirational voice. it was reagan who said, for whatever history does finally say about our cause, this cause, it must say the conservative movement in america held fast through the

hard and difficult years. the hard and difficult years. my friends, these have been the hard and difficult years that reagan predicted. but you know now it is time to talk about the future. and i can see light coming from the top of the hill. the american conservative union and our conservative movement is growing stronger. we're adding new voices. you know what we're prepared for? we are prepared for the obama exit. [applause] you know one thing i'm not prepared for? i'm not prepared for bill clinton hang round the white

house around those white house interns. i'm not prepared for that. and i'm not prepared for queen hillary on the throne where she likes to keep her servers. think about it. [laughter] look at all the young people around us. look at them. they tell us that young people are not conservatives. look around you. these are the grandchildren of the reagan revolution. tell me something, grandchildren of the reagan revolution. do you feel the burn? i bet you want jobs. you want to experience the arn.

it's not always about the young but the young at heart. we're racing beautiful girls. i don't know what their policies will be. early indicators are good. what mercy and i want more than , the most important thing, is for them to understand that america is exceptional. why are we exceptional? because here the individual is recognized to have god given rights enshrined in law and that the individual is protected by that law to take on the masters of government when they encroach, when they bully, or when they intimidate us. and each generation is obligated to entrust this understanding of our exceptionalism to the next. this reminds me of a special

kansain who is battling cancer. while she fights for her health she is worried about her country. her kids came to her recently and offered to send her on vacation for a couple quiet days by the water and also a chance for a four-day pass to cpac. this grandmother and great grandmother of 46, she chose cpac. [applause] and what's more, today is her birthday. mary freewell? you are a conservative, grass roots hero. and you are exceptional. thank you for being here. [applause]

we would have cheered just for the 46. i mean, we would have stopped there. one of the main reasons i love coming to cpac is because this is the place where we all come together and we speak freely. each of you is here because you care enough to come here. you invest your time and your resources. and we understand that. and you come here to take a crash course on the state of your country. you know what i understand? you love your country. [applause] i'd like to tell you about someone else who loved his country. he lived under castro's cuba. a place that where if you disagree with the regime and, boy, it's a regime, they will take from you.

they will imprison you. or even worse, they will kel you -- they will kill you. my father here today was one of the many cubans who lost everything. but you know what he did? he fought back. he organized a small group of freedom fighters who planned an attack on fidel castro. in the end, they were betrayed by one of their own. and all were either jailed or murdered. jose got out alive but his cell mate was executed. can i tell you how incredible it is to have a father-in-law who fought for freedom and tried to rid the world of one of its most heinous tyrants, and how sad it is, how tragic it is, to watch our president apiece these very same dictators. [applause]

i'm inspired knowing america gave him a second chance at freedom. he taught his children and his grandchildren and me the importance of protecting and defending this great nation now and forever. jose beana, we salute you! [applause] mary, jose, i call him pepe. all of us or worried that our

movement, that all of us that were hopelessly fractured, that our movement will never be the same, that our divisions will result in even more losses. that our conservative movement is damaged beyond repair. we are at a critical moment for conservatives. so many are rooting against us. they're hoping we fail. but, you know, we've been here before. i think the path before us is pretty simple. we'll have to decide. do we fracture or do we stand together as conservatives and prevail? i know we can. despite what the pundits are saying about us, don't fear this moment. embrace it. and like all challenges, and this is quite a challenge, will be stronger when we get through it. we'll be stronger when we get through it. but we'll only prevail if we

ight together now. conservatives, let us work together to make this our time. our time is now. thank you very much. thank you. thank you. ♪

>> ladies and gentlemen please welcome the vice president of the acu and board member aroline meadows. >> hello cpac. what a great crowd. we're glad you're here. day it's my great honor to introduce to you a remarkable man of great character and abiding faith.

he now offers himself to the president of the united states and that man is senator ted cruz. [applause] by now you should all know his qualifications. t i want to tell you why i'm supporting senator cruz and why i'm encouraging you to supporting. when he ran for senator of texas, he made promises to the people of texas. he kept those promises. and now he makes those same promises to you. perhaps i'm a bit old

fashioned. but when it comes to senator cruz, he promises to defend and to govern by the constitution. and to protect the second amendment. and to appoint judges like calia. and i believe him because he has been a consistent conservative. and that's why i believe he is the best choice for president of the united states. please welcome senator ted cruz. applause and cheering]

>> god bless cpac! [cheering] so donald trump is skipping cpac. i think somebody told him megan elly was going to be here.

or even worse, he was told there were conservatives that were going to be here. [cheering] or even worse he was told there were libertarians that were going to be here. or even worse, they were told there were young people who were going to be here. [cheering] not all of you have a degree from trump university. the men and women here are a grass roots army. the men and women here love liberty. let me tell you as dire as things are people are waking up all over this country.

and help is on the way. this election is going to be about three things. jobs, liberty, and security. you know, it's easy to talk about making america great again. let's start with jobs. you can even print that on a baseball cap. but the question is, do you understand the principles that made america great in the first place? the heart of the economy is not washington, d.c. it's not new york city. the heart of the economy are small businesses all over this country.

you want to crush the economy that hammered small businesses and unchain the economy and lift the boot of the federal government off the backs of the necks of small businesses. [applause] >> you would be! > we will repeal every word of bama care. we'll pass health care reform that makes health insurance personal and portable and affordable and keeps government from getting in between us and our doctors. [applause] and we will pass a simple flat tax. where every american can fill ut our taxes on a post card.

and when we do that we should abolish the i.r.s. now i understand a lot of people in this country are angry. i get being angry. i'm angry, too. for far too long politicians in oth parties have lied to us. they make promises on the trail and they go to washington and they don't do what they said. no issue captures that better than immigration. immigration is a law enforcement matter. immigration is a national security matter. but at its heart immigration is an economic matter. when you allow 12 million people to come to this country illegally, you take away millions of jobs from u.s. citizens, from legal immigrants. and you drive down wages for everybody.

now, in a republican primary everyone says they oppose illegal immigration. the question to ask was in 2013 when the battle over the gang of eight amnesty bill was being waged, where did you stand? did you stand as far too many establishment republicans did with barack obama and the democrats pushing amnesty on millions of americans? or did you stand as i was proud to stand with millions of americans saying, no. e will not have amnesty. you know, i'm told donald trump talks a fair amount about immigration. there is the natural question to ask during the gang of eight

battle, where was donald? ell, sadly worse than nowhere. donald was funding the gang of eight. he gave over $50,000 to five of the eight members of the gang of eight. last night donald on stage promised all of us to be flexible. he said that over and over again how flexable he was. everyone at cpac, flexible is code word in washington, d.c. for they're getting ready to stick it to you. every time they're flexible in washington it benefits wall street. it benefits the special interest. the working men and women of this country get left in the old.

here's what i'm going to do. if i'm elected we are appealing obama care. passing a flat tax. abolishing the i.r.s. pulling back the federal regulators. we're stopping amnesty. we're securing the borders. and here's what's going to happen. millions and millions of high paying jobs, wages coming up for everyone, young people coming out of school getting two, three, four, five job offers. orning in america. the second critical issue in this election is freedom. for all of us, justice scalia's passing just two weeks ago underscored the stakes of this election. i was blessed to know justice scalia personally for 20 years and started my career as a law clerk at the court and

litigated in front of the court arguing in front of the court for over a decade. justice scalia was a lion of the law and he ferociously protected the bill of rights for all of us. his passing underscores that this election is not about one branch of government but about two. we are one liberal justice away from the supreme court ruling that government can take our religious liberty away and force every one of us to violate our faith on penalty of prison or fine. we are one liberal justice away from the supreme court ordering 10 commandments monuments torn own all over this country. we are one liberal justice away from the supreme court erasing the second amendment from the bill of rights.

we are one liberal justice away from the supreme court ordering veterans memorials torn down if they have any religious symbols torn down all over this country. we are one justice away from the supreme court making us subject to the world court and united nations and international law and giving away u.s. sovereignty. in the debate last week, there was a moment of clarity on this issue. there was a question about religious liberty and the supreme court. donald trump turned to me and said, ted, i've known a lot more politicians in my life than you have. now, in that he is surely correct. he has been supporting liberal, democratic politicians for four decades. but he said, ted, when it comes to the supreme court, you got to be prepared to compromise. you got to be willing to cut a deal with the democrats.

let me be very clear to every man and woman here at cpac. i will not compromise away your religious liberty. [cheering] [applause] i will not compromise away your second amendment right to keep and bear arms. because if any president does what donald is promising to do, cut a deal with harry reid and chuck schumer to agree on justice scalia's replacement, then we know that replacement will be a left wing judicial activist who will strip away

our rights. i give you my solemn commitment that every justice i put on the supreme court will be a principled constitutionalist, faithful to the law, who will vigorously protect the bill of rights for each and every one of us. the third key issue, this election is about security. for seven years america has abandoned our friends and allies and has shown weakness and appeasement to our enemies. the world is much more dangerous because of it. once again, in the debate last week there was a moment of clarity in this choice. donald trump told us he will be neutral between israel and the palestinians. let me be very clear. as president i have no intention of being neutral.

america will stand unapologetically with the ation of israel. and if you cannot tell the difference between terrorists who walk into shopping malls with dynamite strapped around their chests to blow up women and children and the soldiers protecting innocence, if you buy into the media and the left wing's narrative of moral equivalency, then that draws into question the judgment any individual would have as ommander in chief.

over the last seven years we've seen the united states military weakened. we've seen our readiness degraded. we've seen morale plummet. now, america has seen this happen before. we've seen a left wing democratic president weaken the military as jimmy carter did and in 1981 ronald reagan came into the white house. [applause] what did reagan do? he cut taxes. he passed regulatory reform. the economy took off. millions of small businesses grew. trillions of dollars of government revenue. he used that revenue to rebuild the military and we bankrupted the soviet union and won the cold war. [applause] i intend to do the exact same thing with radical islamic terrorism. we are going to unleash incredible economic growth and

rebuild the military so it remains the worrell's mightiest fighting force. we are going to rebuild the military so it remains the world's mightiest fighting force. no longer will the military be governed by political correctness. no longer will it be a top priority of the pentagon to rovide gluten free m.r.e.'s. instead, we will have a commander-in-chief who says to the world we will defeat radical islamic terrorism. we'll have a president willing to utter the words "radical islamic terrorists." [applause]

and one of the most disgraceful things we've seen over the last seven years is sending our fighting men and women into combat with rules of engagement that tie their arms behind their back and make it impossible for them to win, to defeat the enemy, and to rotect themselves. that is wrong. it is immoral. in january, 2017, it will end. [applause] america has always been reluctant to use military force. we are slow to anger. but if and when military force is required, we should use overwhelming force, kill the enemy, and then get the heck out. [applause]

[cheering] and it is the men and women gathered here, the men and women of cpac, it is the young people, it is the lovers of liberty, the lovers of the constitution, that will lead hat fight. it took jimmy carter to give us ronald reagan. and i am convinced the most long lasting legacy of barack obama is going to be a new generation of leaders in the republican party who stand and fight for liberty. who stand and fight for the constitution. and who stand and fight for the judeo christian values that built this great nation. [cheering] thank you and god bless you! [applause]

> wow. as packed as this place has been since we've been here. how you doing, cpac? >> for me to get this bigger rowd i'm calling --. senator, it is good to see you. >> great to be here. >> i know you got a lot of sleep last night.

maybe an hour. two hours. >> not much. >> i want to talk about process and where we are with the campaign. >> yes, yes. >> you are second in the delegate count. it's not that big a disparity. >> nope. >> you have a path to the nomination. [cheering] >> i want -- there is now mitt romney gave a speech yesterday. what did you think of it? >> listen. i think mitt is a citizen. he's entitled to express his views. i think he's concerned about what donald trump would mean. i come from a different place than mitt does. i tell you the concern mitt is expressing is a concern people have all over this country. u know, if you look at republicans across the country, 65% to 70% of republicans recognize that donald trump is not the best candidate to go head to head with hillary clinton.

if donald is our nominee and in all likelihood hillary wins, we lose the supreme court for a generation, the bill of rights is lost, and we're buried in debt, and jihadists continue to rise across the globe. say if you're one of those 65% to 70% of republicans that recognize donald is not the best then what is n, critical is that we come together. and i think super tuesday this week was the clarifying moment in this election. because super tuesday made clear that only one campaign has repeatedly beaten donald trump and only one campaign can and will beat donald trump. here's what i want to ask. i want the crowd to answer with me. do you not see that of the 14

of 15 contests that have happened and i think this is true, that the establishment has lost 14 of 15? did you see that? >> yes. >> now, the only question i have is there seems to be an organized, well funded effort to push this to the convention in the hopes, maybe i'm reading into it, to prevent you or mr. trump from getting the nomination because the establishment is angry that you're winning. is that true? >> sean, you are exactly right. any time you hear someone talking about a brokered convention, it is the ashington establishment in a fevered frenzy. they're frustrated because all of their golden candidates, all of the chosen children, the voters keep rejecting. and so they seized on the master plan. we go to a brokered convention and the d.c. power brokers will

drop someone in who is exactly to the liking of the washington establishment. if that would happen we would have a manifest revolt on our ands all across the country. if you want to beat donald trump here's how you do it. you beat donald trump with the voters. we started off with 17 candidates which means there are a lot of folks in this room that started off supporting other people. there arenada lot of good people in this race. i understand and respect that. the field has narrowed and narrowed. we've now had 15. our campaign has beaten donald in five states. we beat him resoundingly in iowa, resoundingly in texas, we beat him in oklahoma, alaska, and beat him in minnesota.

>> i think that plan is real. i think the establishment is paying all this money to do it. i want to move on to some other topics because i think the voters have something to say about that. one thing they haven't factored in is they can't buy your votes . they can't decide for you. you will have the power to pick the people that you want to be the next leader of this country. and thank god it's going to be you and not them or else we'd have another bob dole or john mccain. that wouldn't be good. >> sean, that is exactly right. let me make an explicit pitch to folks here. if you started off with another candidate, maybe you were originally with rand paul. [cheering] maybe you were with jeb bush or chris christie. or maybe you were with mike huckabee or rick santorum. or maybe you've been with marco rubio or with john kasich. or maybe you're with carly fiorina. ll of them are good, honorable

people. i respect every one of them. and maybe you were with dr. ben carson. [cheering] every one of them are good, honorable people, a thousand times better than hillary clinton or bernie sanders. >> here is a question would you put those people in your cabinet if you get elected president? >> absolutely. just every name i mentioned would be a natural to serve in a cabinet and as part of the leadership if we win this race. [applause] and let me speak to the supporters of each of those candidates. those are good and honorable people but i don't believe they have a path to beat donald trump. if you don't want donald to be our nominee, then i ask you, come join us. we welcome you on our team. we are building a broad and welcoming coalition of lovers of liberty who believe in the onstitution.

>> i want to get to your legal background. you were the former attorney general of the great state of texas. i can see he's got his boots on so he's proven his worth here. hillary clinton has now had somebody that pled the fifth that is now turning state's evidence. the person that built the server in the mom-and-pop shop that hillary should not have been using. from your legal expertise, do you believe a grand jury has been con veend -- do you think she violated the law and do you think in the end she will be the candidate? >> listen, i think it is an ominous development for hillary clinton. you know, how many of you all have watched things like "good fellas?" listen, when pauly flips and goes to the feds, it ain't good for fat tony.

[laughter] and i'm going to get in so much trouble for that. >> funny. >> sean, you have a bad effect on me. >> yeah, i know. i notice i get blamed for all of this. >> but listen. it is the fact that immunity has been granted to the person who sets up the server means that he can't plead the fifth anymore. he's got to spill the beans. i guarantee you they're asking what did secretary clinton know and when did she know it? what did her inner team know and when did they know it? and i will say this in the general election. we've never had a general election debate convened at leavenworth. but this year might be the first. >> i hope she likes orange pant suhetts. i can say it. i'm a talk show host. i can get away with anything i want. >> well, sean, orange is the new democratic blue.

>> ow. >> is it good to be back? >> absolutely. >> here's the question. i'm going to give everybody in this room the democratic playbook and i want you to tell this audience how you're going to deal with us. republicans are racist, sexist, homophobic. they want to poison the air and water. they want to kill children. and every grandmother in the country in a wheelchair paul ryan and ted cruz wants to throw over a cliff. how do you deal with the predictable lies that are coming? >> well, there is this psychological term freud talked about called rejection. let's go through each of those. racist. the democratic party is unwilling to say the words "all

lives matter." [applause] when did it become controversial to say, every human being is a precious gift from god and we value everybody? by the way, you want to talk about black lives matter. you know in 1990 there were 2200 homicides. in new york city. last year there were 300. that is over 2,000 a year. roughly 2,000 a year murders that were prevented by the brave men and women of the nypd. you want to talk about thousands of black lives that had been saved because of the bravery of our police officers and all lives matter but let me tell you, blue lives matter and

we stand with the men and women who protect us. mr. hannity: so you make the case? mr. cruz: you take the case to them. i cannot wait to stand on that general election debate stage with hillary clinton. she will inevitably stand up, obama, prattle on about economic inequality. i will say to her, it has increased under your policies. i will say a sentence that i suspect has never been said

before at cpac. i am not donald trump, so it will not be x-rated. i agree with bernie sanders. bernie sanders talks all the time about -- the liberal media is back there. that will be the quote of the day. mr. cruz: bernie sanders talks about the corruption in washington, how career politicians get in bed with the lobbyists, and special interests, and how the game is rigged. bernie is right. when he is defining the problem, is fundamentally correct. if the government is then theally corrupt,a answer ain't let's have more

government. mr. hannity: one of the reasons i love coming back to cpac every year, there is so many young people here. they are our future. i am not trying to be repetitive. i have asked you this before, but this is how profound and deep the problems are right now. we got kids that graduate school, he got to live with mom and dad. millions are out of the labor force. 50 million americans in poverty. millions more than when obama became president. we now have doubled the national debt. $120 trillion in unfunded liability. for all these young people who want a ladder up, how fast can you help them? mr. cruz: we can turn things

around overnight. young people are told this is as good as it gets. coming out of school drowning in student loans with ope for a good job. history teaches that is an utter lie. conservativesw as we get young people. both substance and style. down and tried to hound the living daylights out of young people, it would be that more than the obama economic agenda. massive wealth transfer from healthy people to everybody else.

$18 trillion in national debt -- who do you think is going to pay for that? we got to make the case. it is like for young people, tookparents went to vegas, out a credit card in your name, partied it up, and suck you with the bill. we got to speak the truth that this agenda is hammering no people. if republicans are a bunch of old fuddy-duddies with -- yeah. mr. hannity: going back to last night's debate about body parts. i am kidding. mr. cruz: would it kill republicans to crack a joke? i make fun of bill

clinton all the time. meme --: we put out a break it up. you start a business in your parents' garage. obamanomics -- you move into your parents' garage. the week before i write in california, posters appear all over time. they were posters of my head on a shirtless body. it was ripped. a giantin tattoos, eagle on my chest, two six s, winstonn my abcs churchill on my right bicep, a cigarette dangling out of my mouth, and above it, "

blacklisted and loving it." we had nothing to did with this. cal artist lo that decided to have some fun. we said for whatever reason, these posters have begun appearing all over hollywood. i have to say i noticed a glaring error. i do not smoke cigarettes. and people laughed, they had fun, and an interesting thing the media has not reported. do the exitstates polls, but those that did, our campaign won young people in the state of iowa. people in the state of south carolina. we won young people in oklahoma, arkansas, and in the great state

of texas. question,y: my last there might be something you and donald trump can put together. mr. cruz: i am terrified. mr. hannity: it might work out. isis is evil in art. everybody in this audience understands the evil we face. we have got to stop this evil in its tracks. you have stated you think we should carpet bomb the islamic state, which is islamic, president obama, and he said we should bomb the living -- out of them. i think it is a perfect plan, is that ok? it was funnier than when i did it backstage. isis -- every militant

in the face of the planet should go and join isis. against the jihad united states, they got to understand they are signing their death warrant. it is interesting, a lot of people in the media characterize strength against our enemies as somehow being a warmonger. i think it is exactly the opposite. i believe like ronald reagan, peace through strength. i think the weakness of barack obama, in spite of military conflict, it encourages our enemy. that the nation of iran in 1981 released our ronald reaganay was sworn into office.

that is the difference a strong commander in chief can make, khomeneithe ayatollah realized that ronald reagan was not bluffing. i do not bluff either. understandnemies that, or often than not you do not need to use military power. the biggest country ronald reagan invaded in eight years was grenada. that is what happened when america is strong and your enemies understand it, and we can have that again. that is who we are. i want to finally think everyone here, i ask you to stand with us. army.s a grassroots what, the establishment is terrified of everyone gather here. -- washington, d.c., the establishment, is terrified of everyone gathered here.

if we come together, if we unite, we will win this primary, we will defeat hillary clinton in november. and we will turn this country around them and i have spent my entire life fighting to defend the constitution and bill of rights, and i give you my solemn promise that when i take and oath, preserve, protect defend the constitution, that i will faithfully execute that oath every single day in office. cpac, give it up for senator ted cruz. [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2016]

[captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org]

>> we are going to double this year. >> i found a better way. care, freedomlth from insurance. the way youanging are paying for health care. >> this is the way it should be. >> we are changing the way you pay for health care. >> the movement we help each

other is growing. >> this is how i make a difference. >> health care costs are skyrocketing. it is taking money out of our pockets. care is sharing our medical bills. is aty healthshare grassroots movement where people are abandoning the insurance models are meeting each other's costs in community with one another. matt smith.lcome smith: our next speaker is more than a personal story of achievement. he has become a leading choice for freedom. he had the courage to enter the arena to answer the call. he decided to run for president

anchored by our constitution, which everyone here knows begins -- wehree simple words the people. we are better as a result of the d energy his hands have brought the movement, and now he has come here to speak with us grassroots activists, conservatives, how he will continue to be a part of our movement. he understands the challenges we face and the solutions cannot be found in washington. catalyst tothe true improving america is found with us. ladies and gentlemen, put your hands together for a strong cpac welcome for dr. ben carson.

♪ mr. carson: thank you. thank you so much. thank you. thank you. thank you very much. thank you. thank you. i am absolutely delighted to be here. my wife and my sons and their wives are there. thank you. i want to thank you. i want to thank all the people who have worked so incredibly , theon my campaign volunteers. young man who lost his life or something he believed

with in such fervor. it is an experience i will never forget. y enough, people said in order to make it in this cycle, you have to be loud and boisterous and you have to be willing to attack people. i used to be like that. there was a time when i was, particularly in junior high school edit high school -- i could come up with some stuff that would really embarrass people. and the people who are running today, i could come up with some stuff, let me tell you. i left thatt -- stuff in high school. the things that affect us now are so incredibly important.

and one of the things that is going on in our nation i have noticed as i have traveled around, wonderful americans, every place, every part of our country, but so many of them are angry and are afraid. and the problem when you are angry in a freight is you tend to make bad decisions when you are angry and you are afraid. and what we have to do now is use sort of calm down and the amazing intellect that god has given us. the human brain, billions and billions of neurons, hundreds of billions of interconnections. it remembers everything you have ever seen or heard. it can process over 2 million bits of information in one second. there is a reason he gave a something like that -- so that

we can extract information from the past and the present and process it and projected into the future -- and project it into the future and think rationally and logically instead of reacting. you do not need to have much of a developed ranges sibley react -- to simply react. lizards can do that. we are human beings, so we need to start to think in america what we need is leadership. [applause] mr. carson: and many people have said, who are you going to endorse? well, let me tell you exactly, let me tell you exactly the criteria that one should use when utilizing that brain. if we are talking about somebody

who is going to lead america and the world, you need somebody who has demonstrated significant accomplishment in their life, number one. you also need somebody whose ideas and policies are clear and easy to find so that with your intellect you can evaluate them. you need to look at how they treat others and how they treat their family, because that is how they are going to treat the american people. we need to see what have they done for america. someone who wants to lead this nation should have in fact demonstrated in their life that they are trying to improve life for people in america. and we should also look at the people that they work with, who are those people, what do those

people have to say, and how have they been able to collaborate with other people to get things done. all of those are very important factors, somebody who can check box on all of those is going to make an incredible leader. also, somebody who is ethical, because what we need in america right now is triple-down ethics. very important that we get that. [applause] mr. carson: and conservatives should not be ashamed of capitalism. we have had those who have tried to make it sound like a bad word. it is not a bad word. it has produced the highest standard of living that anybody has ever known. but what we must do as conservatives is to make sure that we couple capitalism with compassion, and that will be a winning formula for us.

recognize that in this country we have 330 million people. and it sounds like a lot of people, but compare that with india 1.1 billion, billion. it means we need to develop all of our people. we cannot afford to have not graduating from high school in the technological age. 5% ofnot afford to have the world's population and 25% of the inmates, and we do have a government with policies that pulls and was together because you need a family unit to strengthen america. our pillars of strength, our and asin our family,

those things are being eroded, you see what is happening to our nation. we the people have to be the ones who really push these things. the government is not pushing it. the government -- they do not understand what compassionate spirit they think having somebody on the head and saying you poor little thing i am going to take all of your needs is compassion. that is just the opposite of compassion. that is making people dependent on the system. that is the worst thing you can do to anybody. onwhat we must concentrate is the past, the bridge that allows people to move out of the state of dependency and become part of the strength and fabric of this country. that is how we become strong as a nation. the fewer people we have to pull along and the more people who become part of the productive side of america, the better life

will be for everybody. that is what we have to keep in mind. recognize that we, the american people, are not each other's enemies. i think it is a nefarious group of individuals who are making every attempt to divide us as americans. and what we must begin to concentrate on is having conversations with each other and talking through our differences and finding resolution. a reason we have these amazing brains. if we are fighting each other all the time, than it makes it excessively easy for those who really are our enemies, the radical islamist terrorists who want to destroy us. we need to understand that. and why would we make their job easier for them by trying to

destroy ourselves? and we need to identify those people in our society who are always trying to splinter us, because they are not our friends either. they also need to be thinking about our future generations, and this is an area that has concerned me immensely. thomas jefferson said, it is immoral to borrow from the next generation. think about that. here we are in a situation where $19 trillion? and it is going to be $20 trillion next year? think about the impact of that. the f has to suppress the -- the interest rates. they do not necessarily want income to rise either because we

are in such a difficult economic situation. but think what happens to the when joe them, butcher cannot go every friday like they used to do the bank his check in0% of the savings account and what it grow because there is no growth, there is no incentive to do that. same thing with the bond markets. only place money can be made is the stock market? visit invest in the stock market? well-to-do people. and hence, the income gap grpows. along come sanders and clinton talking about income gap. keepsthe government that driving the debt up. that is causing the problem.

identifyst be able to where the true culprits lie. the government keeps growing because it feels it is the one who can solve our problems. that is a mistake. 1920'sted like in the with the wilson administration, kept multiplying, by the time we got to the johnson administration. we are talking, we the government are going to eliminate poverty, remember that? the war on poverty. how did that work out? $19 trillion later, we had 10 times more people on food stamps, or poverty, broken homes, everything is not only worse, it is much worse. whenhat is what happens the government starts doing things that it is not supposed to do. they need to read the constitution. that is not their job.

taking care of the indigent, that is our job. that is our job, we did people, not the government. and maybe the governor and debris -- the government did read it, they got confused when they read the preamble where it says, one of their jobs is to promote the general welfare. everybody onto put general welfare. that is not what it means. happens when you have a government that is way to date. and i have hopeful that maybe some people, now that i am leaving the campaign trail -- >> oh! mr. carson: yeah. i know this

[applause] [cheers and applause] >> thank you. thank you very much. thank you. [applause] but but but even though i might be leaving the campaign trail -- there is a lot of people who love me, they just want vote for me but it's ok. it's not a problem. [laughter] i will still continue to be heavily involved in trying to save our nation. [applause] we have to say that.

-- we have to save it. i will be involved in a lot of myferent things including faith of votes which is an organization that will try to help the faith community to recognize how important their vote is. 25 million evangelicals did not vote. the margin of difference was only 5 million. it gives you some idea of how important that is. we have to get these people registered and we have to get them to understand that they have to play a role. a lot of people in the faith community, they say god has it under control so i don't need to do anything. one of the ways that god controls it is through us. we have to do stuff. [applause]

this brings me to the whole topic of our faith as a nation. ofare in the process allowing the secular progressives to drive faith out of our country. you look at one of their heroes, sky, who was also at hero of hillary clinton's and he was a community organizer like barack obama. book, asote a famous you know, called " rules for radicals." to give you some idea of who these people are, on the dedication page, it says this book is dedicated to lucifer, the original radical who gained his own kingdom.

about throwing god out and then substituting something that is radically different, you can imagine what the effects of that are going to be on our nation. we're the only ones who can change that. i know that -- [applause] i know that president obama said we are not a judeo-christian nation but he does not get to decide, we get to decide what kind of nation we are. [applause] it is so important -- it is so important that the people with common sense, that includes, you know, conservative people, it includes even some

democrats, there are some. [laughter] it includes the people who thisstand that right now is a most important election , do we we are deciding want to allow the government to get date our rights -- to dictate our right. s. they take care of all of our necessities or do we want to individualsn where and where we take the responsibility for our needs in an atmosphere of a quality of opportunity? isn't that what it's about? not a quality of everything except for opportunity, we give opportunity to everybody in america. [applause]

and the bottom line is, we the ones who will the be making the decisions but in order to do that, we must become active. we must become informed. we cannot continue to allow ourselves to be influenced and molded by the political class and by the media. that is going to destroy us. [applause] it's kind of sad. it's kind of sad because the business thatnly is specifically protected by our constitution and the reason is because they were supposed to be the allies of the people. they were not supposed to take

sides and do what they have done. [applause] i use this as an opportunity to , andl to the press particularly to the younger members of the press, not to capturedrselves to be by those who are attempting to impose an agenda upon america. remember, that you, too, are a part of us. goes overle country the cliff, you are going over with it. so join us in being fair to everybody and open, once again, in america. [applause] i just want to close by saying,

right now it is so important that everyone of us use all the talent that we have, everything that we have. this is not about any individual person. this is about us collectively as a nation. that candyntee you and i and our whole family loved sit downon and could i right now and enjoy the rest of my life in complete luxury? absolutely, but i cannot do that knowing the next generation is in trouble and we will do everything we can to preserve the greatness of america. [applause] [cheers and applause] >> thank you. welcome fox news

schlop forr mercedes the q&a. [applause] hello, everyone, dr. carson, wonderful to be here. i get a text from my 12-year-old daughter who says, mom, carson just dropped out of the race, you need to change some of the question so we will get rid of these. but i've got a backup. it's really an honor to be here with you, sir. inwill start with, i heard your campaign that they would say god opens a door and sometimes, you choose to go through it and follow through and now, god seems to have opened a different door for you. questionhere was no that he had to open a door because being a person with no political ties whatsoever, no pac, nothing, the pundits were probably right.

they said there is no way you can run a national campaign for president. it cannot happen and it's never happened and it's not going to happen now. i said lord, you heard what they said. if you want me to do this, you have to open a door. if you open a door, i will walk through it and he opened a door so i walked through it or it it was as simple as that. [applause] god has a much greater perspective than we do and a much different timeline and we do. he knows exactly what he is doing so all we do is follow his will. to be truthful and do everything that is right and he will take care of the rest. [applause] dr. carson, you have spent so much energy and time on the campaign trail. the moment where

you and candy and the kids decided we need to suspend this campaign? >> you know, i have always kind of thought that people at some ofnt would just say, enough this foolishness, we will look at these policies and we will see what works. we have not gotten there quite yet. but we are gradually moving in that direction. i did the math. i looked at the delegate count. i look at the states and the look of the requirements and i realized that it simply was not going to happen. if that's the case, than i did not want to interfere with the process. [applause] now last night, there was this event, i think it was called a debate. there were thousands of people in this room. were you watching netflix or the debate? >> you would have thought it was

netflix. [laughter] [applause] it is kind of funny but it's very said that we have reached that point. outlast debate when i went into the room, the most common question i got in the press was aren't you embarrassed t? part of that i blame the media for because they are trying to stir up a fight. [applause] they are not really interested , they are not interested in the solutions, they are interested in ratings. continue to ask my friends who are running for president and i have talked with all of them this week. asked them to rise above the level of the press and say we

are going to talk about the real solutions here. [applause] otherey can question each because it is important to know where people stand on these issues. you cannot just answer a question by saying, yeah, it will be ok. you have to actually answer the question. both the moderators and the other candidates should insist on answers from everybody because we, the people, deserve to know who we are choosing for president. [applause] ok, trick question here -- broker convention, good thing or bad thing? >> i would prefer in general not to have one but there is a reason that the process is in place. the only thing i would really have a problem with is if

somebody starts changing the rules. leave the rules as they are and play by the rules and i think we will be ok. [applause] >> you have hundreds of thousands of supporters, where do you tell your supporters to go? criteria ofut the the next presidential candidate, where do they go? >> we have millions of supporters. applaise]d been rather astonishing hearing from them and seeing how enthusiastic they are. , whatevertill saying you do, we will support you but i have heard a lot of troubling things like people saying, if you're not going to be him at ticket, i'm not going to vote. that's not a good thing. because what we have to

recognize is that when you do not vote, you are voting but you are voting for the other side. [applause] we cannot afford that. if we get in there, someone like hillary clinton, uh, who loves sol alinsky and loves margaret sanger, she will get 2-4 supreme court picks. , ruins going to, i think the future for our children, our grandchildren and our progeny. i think that is just as bad as taking a knife and stabbing them with it. think about that. so let's not do that. let's make sure that we act responsibly, exercise our civic duty and please, no matter how

that if weecognize secularnother [indiscernible] have done our children in and we cannot afford to do that. [applause] >> dr. carson, what issue do you think the presidential candidates are not addressing on the republican side? >> i think the thing they are not addressing is the fiscal gap. have you noticed that no one talked about the fiscal gap? no washington politician will talk about the fiscal gap that i am not a politician's why can talk about it. liability,nfunded medicare, medicaid, social security, all the governmental programs going frd