constituency. >> i would certainly welcome mat. it is important that the because we're protecting the funding, even at a difficult time for the economy and for public spending, that is the education budget will be rising and not falling. as ever the shadow chancellor is wrong, even when he's sitting down. in addition, more robust and he stands up. i digress. as well as the extra. as well as the extra invested in the fuel, there is also the attendee for free school, which i think will be a major reform in our country bringing more goods. so perhaps a future shuttle chancellor he will learn a few matters. [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] >> order. order. it's a bit of a shame and the problem.

>> thank you, mr. speaker. will the prime minister listen to the campaign in the 80,000 people that have written to him and to commit becoming a leading advocate to the introduction of a robin hood tax? will he make sure the the revenue is earmarked for sustainable development. >> i think there is widespread support for the principles behind such a tax, but it has to be adopted on a global basis. let me just say this as i think quite an important warning to those who are pushing this so hard. we must be careful that we don't allow other countries, including some other european countries to use the campaign for this tax that they know is unlikely to be adopted in the short term as an excuse for getting off their a commitment. in this house in this country we can be proud of the factory are meeting our eight commitment and don't let others use this as a way of getting of things that

they promised. the world population. sydney billion this week. that's an awful lot of mouths to feed. also predicting over the next 40 years food will increase by some the%, and that also means good news. sadly since 1990 the capacities of his fallen. will the prime minister agreed that this disastrous situation, we urgently before a strategy to grow burdens farming industry defeated all of the future. >> an important point, which is it is true that we have seen our own food security decline and our own food production severely challenged of the last in years. important to remember that farmers are businesses, and they need things done as other businesses do in terms of deregulation, predictable income and all of those things. this government is committed to making that happen which will benefit people in his own contingency. >> mr. speaker, 2010, building

more homes per year did prior to the recession, building more homes is a gold standard on which we can be judged. which your years of this parliament does the prime minister expect the girls tended to be achieved? >> will we have said is that we are going to expand the building of homes were social rent by increasing and reintroducing the right to buy with the last government so scandalously ran down. that is going to help. we also going to make available government land so that builders can get on and build the that having to buy the land and only having to pay when they have actually deliver the house, so we want to see an extra 200,000 homes built in that way, and that will give us a far better record than the government which she represented. >> ordered.

notwithstanding the increasingly maniacal stipulations of the shadow chancellor. [inaudible conversations] [laughter] the is it not market bull that in the middle of the world's biggest crisis britain is able to borrow at lower rates of interest than almost any other country in the world. >> as ever it takes the father of the house to bring the west and to the table which is if we did not have a proper plan for getting on top of our debt and deficit but would not have to nappers and interest-rate which is a great stimulus to our economy. instead we would have interest rates like the greeks, the spanish and the italians, and our economy would be hit. do you know how you get interested side that? if we adopted the plans of the

party opposite. their plan is for an extra 87 billion pounds of borrowing of this parliament. you do not sell the debt crisis by adding to your debt. you can go on making a rather questionable salu >> you've been watching prime minister's questions, a session where the prime minister answers questions from the house of commons on the state of affairs in britain and the world at large. you can watch prime minister's questions live wednesdays on c- span-2 at 7:00 a.m. eastern and rebroadcast on sunday at 9:00 p.m. eastern here on c-span. >> tomorrow on "washington journal," a discussion on the from take questions opposition and members.

that is like a tender a.m. here on c-span. also tomorrow, former secretary of state madeleine albright on the air of spring in the transition. she'll be joined by activists from libya, yemen, and bahrain. that is live at 5:00 p.m. eastern on c-span. and the republican presidential candidates mitt romney and herman cain address the get annual gathering at the americans for prosperity foundation on friday. mr. romney outlined his plan to cut federal spending in mr. king promoted his 9-9-9 tax plan. it included remarks by rudy guiliani who criticized occupy wall street protesters. this is almost two hours. ♪ >> good afternoon. good afternoon. welcome to the fifth annual

american for prosperity foundation defending the american dream summit. over 2000 of you grassroots activists from all over this great country converging on washington, d.c. and we have got a pretty simple message for this government. let us cut spending and get within your means and tighten your belt like every business and every family in this country has had to do. is that right? that is the message we are delivering. many of you have traveled long distances to be with us today and i would like to thank you on behalf of the foundation. i saw our north carolina state director and that the buses from north carolina are here. this morning, i heard a commotion at the hotel and i ran into a whole bunch of oklahoma people. where are you guys?

i talked to folks who literally just finished an 8-10 hour bus ride from the great state of michigan. but you very much. thank you for being here. all of you have stories to tell and we are the organization that helps you tell them. they envisioned a grass-roots group of all walks of life standing up and fighting for the economic freedom, the very freedoms that have made our country the most prosperous in the history of the world. from day one, our americans for prosperity team has and blessed with the chairman of integrity

and a deep love of freedom. david h. koch, thank you for all you do. we are proud to have you as our chairman. [applause] in just a few moments, your good to hear from two leading contenders for president. herman cain and mitt romney. [applause] then you will hear for america's mayor, rudy guiliani. tonight, at our regan dinner -- by the way, as the years pass, doesn't run on dragon look better and better -- and ronald reagan look better and better. tonight, you're in to hear from the judge -- -nepal a tunnel from fox news.

finished a hear from souza. your current year from andrew breitbart, john fund, and mark levin. there is one disappointment this weekend. it is troubling. we invited president obama to join us -- [laughter] white house, 1600 pennsylvania ave. we want to give him the opportunity to explain to billions -- the billions of our tax dollars he is wasting on clean energy boondoggles. we wanted him to explain how these tax dollars for these boondoggles -- they always seem to end up in the hands of a favored friends and the donors.

we wanted him the opportunity to explain that. we wanted to get an opportunity to explain why he wants to raise taxes, and other waste a stimulus program. why is epa whites out tens of thousands of jobs with these regulations -- with these regulations and red tape. we will not be hearing from him, because he turned us down. very disappointing. mr. president, we do have a message for you. we may not hear from you today, but trust us, you are or to hear from us. york and to hear from everyone of us. [applause] you're going to hear from us this weekend, next weekend, and you are certainly going to hear from everyone of us across america in 2012. [applause] in recent weeks, when we have seen the last working to rejuvenate itself at the grassroots using this occupy

wall street movement. i mean this sincerely. i welcome this development. i am not being facetious. here is why, the occupy wall street movement offers our nation of crystal clear choice between what a radical division is for this nation and what is the foundation -- what our allies we do what our vision is when it comes to the economy. they possess a hatred of the free enterprise and capitalism. a trips from every word and every statement. the openly call for socialism and they discourage job creators. at our foundation, we know the truth. free enterprise has lifted more people out of the muck and mire of poverty and despair than any other system known to man. [applause]

in fact, we know that free enterprise has actually given these occupy wall street folks the means to hold a protest in the most prosperous country in the world today. often, the occupy wall street movement has even called for on resulted violence. they break the law. the disrespect rights of property owners and their fellow americans. i can tell you this -- with our two-party allies, we want to genuinely bring change to this country. we want to reform government. we do so with the respect for the rule of law in this great land of ours. [applause] there is one last crucial difference. the occupy wall street movement and the far left is based on anger and in the -- ency.

they want to tear down fellow americans to suit their radical ideological agendas. de -- at the employ class warfare and unrestrained envy. we know something they do not know. americans are not envious. they are aspirational. [applause] they aspire to a better life and are willing to work for it and to fight for it without tearing down fellow citizens. there are those who tell us today that we cannot change the direction of our nation. there are those who say that the government and big spending and high unemployment and a job killing regulations and ever spiraling deficit and debt are here to stay. the national failure we're watching increase is our fate. those who say such things do not know you in this room and your

commitment to freedom. they cannot know the millions of americans just like all of us -- americans i have met all over who are willing to work and sacrifice their time and treasure to bring economic freedom and prosperity back to our nation. those who forecast our inevitable decline do not know the spirit of america and the like you're willing to undertake. this past july 4th, i left an event late in the afternoon in eastern pennsylvania and i drove to my home in the virginia. as i was driving through southeastern pennsylvania, i entered a small town called gettysburg and i thought, how appropriate. as i was driving through, i noticed in a large field a july 4th celebration taking place. you probably participate in them. the big field, music playing -- i will not sing for you, do not

worry. i had to stop. i pulled over and i watched the fireworks display, this iconic american vision. i got back in my car and it was after dark and as i drove the last 45 minutes or so to buy home, i could see little pops from the fire were taking place. a small towns across southern maryland -- they were holding their own celebrations. i thought back to the most inspiring dinner of my life. it occurred three years ago in manhattan. it was a dinner honoring the leading recipient of the congressional medal of honor. over two dozen of these men -- [applause] at my table, was a short, stocky veteran who had been honored for his gallantry at he would jima -- iwo jima.

two tall -- the helicopter pilot had been awarded the helicopter -- the medal of honor. that night, it was humbling to look around the room to hear the stories of the men, to see their humility. after the dinner, most of the crowd had left and i looked over and there was one of last congressional medal of honor honoree in the room that i could see. he had the metal bird tightly -- pulled tightly around his neck. he was a big, strapping gentlemen. he had been honored with the congressional medal of honor, he landed with the second -- he was awarded the medal of honor for his actions on the second day after d-day. i said thank you for your service. he said, some -- son, they gave

me that medal for something i did on one day, but what i am most proud of is that every day for almost one year, me and my buddies fought hard across france and we fought hard into germany. when i look back, that is what i am most proud of. we did not take days off, we fought hard every day. [applause] i walked out into the crisp, springhare of a manhattan evening with those words ring in my ears. we worked hard and we fought hard every day. i would never compare what we do in the public policy arena to that. their sacrifice is beyond anything. the principle is the same. i do not know if we have got 10 days, 10 hours, 10 years, 20 years -- none of us know. i want be able to look back one day and with assuredness,

looking to the eyes of my children and hopefully one day grandchildren and say, i did everything i could to make our nation the freest and most prosperous in the country. i know that is the commitment to share and thank you for being part of this foundation. thank you. [applause] >> our first speaker today is one of the leading contenders for president for the republican nomination. he is successful businessman, he is also the former governor of massachusetts. please welcome mitt romney. ♪ [applause] >> thank you. thank you. thank you for that warm welcome

and empty life for the work you are doing across the country. this is that your we are going to be able to select a nominee. i appreciate the work you are doing. i am sure you have noticed that the president has been travelling across the country trying to get the people of america to support his new half a trillion dollars stimulus bill. he keeps telling people, we cannot wait. i say, yes we can. [laughter] [applause] upon taking office, this administration's model -- motto was, you did not want to let a crisis go to waste. they do not have and one. the unemployment rate has been over 8% for 33 months. our country has been running a deficit for 36 months.

just last week, nearly 400,000 americans filed for news jobless claims. that is not the best america can do. it is the best this administration can do and we're when to do a lot better. -- we are going to do a lot better. president obama has offered a number of plans are for getting the economy going. the problem is, most of the proposals are based on one idea, more spending and borrowing. today, government borrows 36 cents of every dollar it spends. if we stay on that course, we will face tomorrow what greece is experiencing today. there is no nation big enough to bail us out. it took 43 presidents over 200 years to accumulate 6.3 trillion dollars in debt. president obama is on track to do that in one term. his fundamental error is that he

believes government creates jobs. he is wrong. he puts his faith in government. i put my faith in people. [applause] this is why i am committed to making government simpler, smaller, and smarter. not only better for the economy, it is a moral imperative. we cannot, with moral conscience, voral trillions of dollars that can only be repaid by our children. we cannot weaken our economic foundations that would jeopardize our ability to preserve freedom. there are some who argue that fiscal responsibility is heartless and immoral. no. what is heartless is in peril our children and what is immoral is to imperil the strength of the nation that is preserved by

god. [applause] this is a pivotal moment in history of the country. it will either be led by men and women who care only for the president, who promise more and more for less and less, or who ignore the tightening noose of death. or will it be led by those who believe that deficit is better and to have the courage to act with fiscal responsibility. when i became governor of massachusetts, i was 19 -- it was to thousand three and our state budget was out of control. my legislator -- my legislation was 85% at democrat. even with about the most democratic legislature in the nation, we did not just slowdown the growth of spending, we actually cut spending and we turned a short fall into a $2

billion fund. i learned that a balanced budget in the business sector. in the private sector, you have much choice about balancing budgets. you either do it or you go broke. you spend every dollar like it is your own, because it is. someone should have told that to solyndra. [laughter] the government gave them a $535 million startup loan to build a factory in fremont, california. the footprint of their facility covered five baseball fields. they had robots that whistled songs. they had showers with liquid crystal displays that told you what the water temperature was. the company headquarters was called the taj mahal of office buildings. that is the government's threats

of business. let me compare it with staples. our headquarters was located in the back of an anti food warehouse, we got used office furniture, old chairs -- you had to be an athlete to get out of them once he set into them. every penny we had went into selling and attracting customers. that is the difference between the private sector and government. fiscal responsibility. when i took that experience, i brought it to the olympics. i came there at a time when the games were in crisis. we had a $370 million budget deficit and some people said the games were going to fail. the first thing we did was to change the culture of the organization. we started with small, symbolic gestures. we stopped renting a big fancy conference room for our board meetings.

we decided to charge our board meetings -- members for their meals. we cut the budget for things like decorations and brochures, travel, motivational speakers -- we have all the motivation we need. we wanted the entire organization to know that every penny mattered. i use principles like that that i have relied on so many times in the private sector to come up with $98 million in immediate budget cuts. the olympics that we help put together with some of the most successful in olympic history. instead of a deficit, we produced $100 million for an endowment fund. [applause] in business, in the olympics, and in massachusetts, i want to

eliminate deficits and how to produce results. when i get to the white house, hopefully, no one will need to teach me how to balance budgets. i have been doing that for 35 years. now is the time to level with the american people about what it will take to cut spending and to balance our budget. to set on its goals and present a credible plan to achieve those goals. this is not one to be easy, it's going to require tough choices. many believe it cannot be done, i believe it has to be done. i believe in the american people and when this nation calls americans deliver. over the last 33 months, president obama has run federal spending to 20% -- 24% of the gdp. i pledge to reduce spending to 20% of the gdp by the end of my first term. [applause]

then, i will capet -- cap it. i will put a constitutional amendment that requires government to spend only what it earns. [applause] to reach that 20% goal, we're going to need to find about $500 billion a year in annual savings. upon taking office, i'm going to cut discretionary spending and submit a budget every turn spending levels to the pre-obama level. [applause] let me know -- note, i reversed president obama's massive defense cuts. [applause] any savings that we find in the

core defense budget, we will be direct to rebuild our navy, our air force, to active duty soldiers -- [applause] and to provide the care that our veterans so richly deserve. [applause] the world has now become a less dangerous place. -- has not become a less dangerous place. we need a military so strong that no nation would ever think to test it. [applause] my road map to a smaller, simpler government combines three separate approaches. first, eliminate and cut programs. that will start -- [applause] -- with the easy is cut at all.

i will repair obamacare -- repeal obamacare. [applause] [applause] i should have started with that line. [laughter] obamacare is bad law, bad policy, and when i am president, that bad news will be over. [applause] by the way, there are lots of other federal programs that we should dramatically scale back or cut out entirely.

for each program that we have then the government, it is this program so critical, so essential, that we should borrow money from china to pay for it? for example, i like amtrak. but i am not willing to borrow $1.6 billion a year from china to pay for it. i really like the national endowment for the arts, the national endowment for the humanities, but i will not borrow almost a billion dollars a year for china -- from china to pay for them. [applause] then there is foreign aid. do you know that we give $27 million a year to china? $27 million to china. i will stop sending money to any country that can take care of

itself. we're going to cut programs and not absolutely essential, even if we like them. second, will return numerous federal programs to the states. [applause] that is because innovation and cost management and reduction of fraud and abuse can far exceed at the state level what happens in washington is in charge.

medicaid is a prime example. we need to turn medicaid back to the states to allow them to craft a health care solutions that suit their own citizens best. by limiting the growth of medicaid funding, we will save $100 billion a year by 2016 parent [applause] -- a year by 2016. [applause] there are nine separate federal agencies that run 47 different federal workforce training programs. at a cost of $18 billion a year. just imagine how much of that is being spent on overhead. i will spend those work force treading dollars back to the states, in power the states to retrain workers. in the process, we will save billions of dollars. finally, in addition to cutting

programs and eliminating programs and sending programs back to the states, there is a third approach to reining in federal spending. it is to impose a far greater standards of productivity and efficiency on government itself. just like is done in business every other day. [applause] this was amazing to me. i was speaking with former secretary of the navy. he told me that during the second world war, we commissioned about a thousand ships a year. the navy purchasing department had 1000 employees. by the time he was secretary of the navy under ronald reagan, which commissioned about 17 ships a year.

today, we will commission that nine ships a year. purchasing, it has grown to 24,000 people. a business like this would be out of business. we've got to cut the size of the federal work force. [applause] on president obama's watch, we have added 140,000 workers to the federal work force. the american people are increasingly working to support the government. it ought to be the other way around. i would reduce the federal payroll by at least 10%. [applause] of course, we can save additional billions by cutting out extraneous federal contractors. it is not just the size, it is their cost. since president obama took

office, the number of federal workers that make over $150 a year has more than doubled. -- $150,000 a year has more than doubled. public servants should not get a better deal than the taxpayers they work for. by linking government pay with private sector pay, we will save as much as $47 billion a year. [applause] there are still other ways to make the government more efficient. we have got to attack the rampant fraud that exists in numerous government programs. one of the ways i will do that is by enacting stiffer penalties for those who steal from

taxpayers. cutting improper payments, just in half, could save as much as $60 billion a year. we can save nearly $11 billion a year by repealing a political giveaway that protects unions from competition and dries up the cost of every government contract and project. it is time to repeal it davis macon. one of the things i am looking forward to is finding savings by combining certain government agencies and departments. for example, it makes very little sense, the trade policies and programs are administered by so many offices in some departments. today, trade matters are housed in the office of the u.s. trade representative, the department of commerce, the international

trade commission, the international trade administration, the department of a homeland security, and the department of treasury. by the way, gas and gathers all of our trade data? none of the above. -- guess who gathers all of our trade data? none of the above. it is the census bureau. we have to combine federal agencies. let me reiterate. i am going to make the federal government simpler, smaller, smarter by eliminating programs, by sending programs back to states, and by making the federal government more productive. ko'd the same time, i will provide for the national -- at the same time, i will provide for the national defence, preserve our safety nets, and honor all our promises to our elderly. this is the right course for a moral nation.

deficits do matter. they matter if we want to convince on to print your is to start businesses. the matter if you want to -- if you want employers to start hiring. they matter if america is gone to avoid the shoals of economic calamity. they matter if america is going to remain the shining city on the health. to those is a deficits that don't matter, -- to those who say deficits don't matter, we assert that you are in the wrong, and we are in the right. my dad used to say that the pursuit of the difficult makes men strong. our next president want to face difficult challenges. among these would be the future of social security and medicare. in their current form, these programs will go bankrupt at some point. i know that. you know that. and even our friends in the opposition party of that. the difference is i will be honest about strengthening and preserving them.

and a lot. president obama has failed to articulate -- and they won't. president obama has failed to articulate when single idea to save social security. we can save it with a few common-sense reforms. there will be no change in social security for retirees or those near retirement. second, for the next generation of retirees, which is slowly raise the retirement age. finally, for the next generation of retirees, we should slow the growth of benefits for those that have higher incomes. while president obama has been silent on social security, his agenda for medicare has been a disaster. he is the only president in modern history who has cut medicare for seniors. did not forget, it was president obama who caught $500 billion of medicare, not to preserve it, not to sustain it, but to pay

for his obamacare. he puts the future of medicare in the hands of 15 unelected bureaucrats. those bureaucrats have the power to change medicare, to put in place further cuts, without congressional approval. even of those cuts overturn a law previously passed by congress. his so-called medicare reforms could lead to rationing of care, denial of care. we must not let the public learned -- forget who it was that cut medicare. it was president obama, not republicans. [applause] unlike president obama, our next president is going to protect medicare. keep a sustainable for generations to come. there are several principles that would guide my efforts in that regard. first, just like the social

security, medicare should not change for anyone who was in the program. we should honor the commitments we've made to our seniors. second, tax hikes are not the solution. we could not tax our way at a bar liabilities -- out of our unfunded liabilities even if we wanted to. tomorrows seniors should have the power to choose what their health care coverage looks like. younger americans today, when they turn 65, should have a choice between traditional medicare and other private health-care plans that provide at least the same level of benefits. competition will lower costs and increase the quality of health care. that is the answer for medicare. the federal government, by the way, will help seniors pay for the option they choose. those with lower in, receive more generous assistance. beneficiaries can choose to keep

the savings for less-expensive options or they can choose to pay more. finally, the eligibility age should slowly to keep pace with increases and longevity. those ideas will get tomorrow's sr. system kind of choices that most americans have today. the future of medicare should be marked by competition, a choice, and by innovation. karpov for the future -- are path for the future is honesty and security. there is a demagoguery and deception and that is one more reason they will lose. [applause] let's start over. the plan had proposed to make

government simpler, smaller, smarter represents the biggest fundamental change to the federal government in modern history. it is unchanged you're going to have to make if the words of full faith and credit of the united states are to mean anything at all. we are not the first people to come to this realization. we will not be the first people to be criticized for believing the responsibility is a virtue. president reagan shared our conviction in his first inaugural address. he said this, it is not my intention to do with government. it is to make it work with us. not overawes. stand by our side, not ride on our back. government must provide opportunity, not smother it. foster productivity, not stifle it. the task before us is to reaffirm our convictions and beliefs and values that unite

us. the challenges and opportunities that face us. and a victory that surely awaits us. thank you for all you do, god bless you, and god bless the united states of america. [applause] ♪ >> thank you. i was born free ♪ ♪ >> ladies and gentlemen, please welcome fox news contributor jonah goldberg. ♪

>> thank you for having me. i am happier than a hippie on free a hash brownies day. one of the constant themes of the obama of presidency is how we need to compete with china. we hear this constantly. he is constantly saying we need to build highways and bridges like they are in china. we need to do -- build airports like they do in china. in beijing, they have the best airports in the world. it reminded me of when richard nixon said it was obvious that the world was over populated because everywhere he went, he saw big crowds. he will not to the 20 to 40

million chinese people who live in caves. you'll not to the hundreds of millions of chinese people who live on a dollar or today. " we constantly hear from barack obama and from democrats like dan to policy is that we need to be like china and make these investments but like nancy pelosi is that we need to be like china and make these investments. china -- we have 10 times the numbers of airports that china does. we have hundreds of thousands of miles more railways than they do. yet you still have joe biden talking like that weird guy in the cafeteria on lime jello day

talking about how we need to have more trains. you can understand the frustration. barack obama came into office believing -- i believe my own bs. and she does. at that time, in 2008 -- and he does. he believed that we were on the cusp on the dawn of this new progressive era. that is what everyone expected. he campaigned in berlin. which i am still trying to figure out. he had this whole routine of people of earth, stop your bickering. i am barack obama. he was gone to ride the crest of this new progressive era, which involved spending money like you would not believe.

i am out of adjectives for the way these guys are spending money. president obama was not alone, right? everybody said this is the dawn of a new progressive era. i used to give talks to free markets groups like you guys, tea party groups, american for prosperity groups. when you talk about limited government and free enterprise, i felt like i was talking to civil war reactors. -- reenactors. caruso out of the times. everywhen new a new new deal -- we were so out of the times. the american people rallied around the big government. rally around more spending, more handouts.

everyone expected that to come. all the smart people, the brilliant skies at harvard. the one thing they did not count on was people like you. [applause] they came out of nowhere. none of the models predicted that he would have this mass populist movement demanding less from government. it's fundamentally transform the debate in washington and fundamentally transformed the debate in congress. the tea party was stem cell therapy for the republican party. they hope the party regrow a spine. -- they helped the party regrow a spine.

[applause] today's progressives, they constantly say, they love america, they care about america. they just want to to fundamentally transformed. the gentlemen in the ramp, i suggest you try this at home. but your wife and say, i love you dearly, i love you with all my life. i just want to fundamentally transform you. she will not have a great reaction to a. that is the spirit of the occupy wall street crowd. their whole idea is that they say, having noticed, dissent is the highest form of patriotism again. now we have occupy " wall street. the only permissible dissent is always from the left, from some

reason. it is kind of surprising. the octopi wall street crowd has the same sort of mine said. -- the occupy wall street crowd has the same sort of mind set. it is that mindsets. you go down there and you look at these people and you talk to them. you do not want to interrupt them when they are recycling their own urine, or wherever they are doing. they have this mindset about what america should be and it is an interesting mind set. sometimes you get the same feeling that when you talk to a 12-year-old about how awesome it would be of superman could fight the hulk. i've spoken to a lot of -- at a

lot of tea party events. i brought my seven -- i brought my daughters to these things. in wisconsin, my daughter work the concession stand at a rally. there is this incredible sort of -- this is the left-wing tea party. the media is desperate to turn this into something that it is not. at the end of the day, the american people will recognize what this says. you cannot say your for the 99% and closed down one of the largest ports in the world. [applause] they come from a mindset that

causally thinks the reason you have poverty is because you are not spending enough money on poor people. that is the entire mind-set. they ask, why is there poverty and the world? this is one of the dumbest questions that you can ask. the only relevant and important question is not why is their party, it is wise their wealth? there is only one system in human history that is reliably created wealth. the single greatest anti-poverty program in the history of humidity is this american revolution that says, we are sovereign individuals. property rights matter. [applause]

there is a lot of pessimistic talk out there. i am far more optimistic today because people like you. our best days are ahead of us. [applause] the challenge going forward is to keep them honest. i mean everybody. i mean republicans, democrats -- [applause] i mean congress, whoever controls it. what you want is for people like go intohner arto have to a negotiation saying, i'd love to cut a deal with the guys, but these guys are crazy. right?

call youe going to terrorist for it, shame on them. you wear a badge of honor. they only gave me 10 minutes and they told me i was supposed to be entertaining and insightful. [applause] keep up the good work and keep hope alive. thank you very much. >> the president of americans for prosperity foundation, tim phillips. >> we are honored to have the

second leading presidential contender with us today. he is a successful business leader. he hails from the great state of georgia. please welcome herman cain. ♪ am america ♪ >> thank you. thank you. thank you very much. delighted to be here. love y'all.

love ya. thank you very much. before i get started, i want to know close teleprompter is are these because i do not need them. maybe they are for somebody else. let it be borne in mind of the tragedy of life does not lie in not reaching your goals, but tragedy lies in having no goals to reach for. [applause] it is not a calamity to die with dreams unfulfilled. it is a calamity to have no

dreams. the american dream has been hijacked. the good news is, we can take it back. [applause] the founding fathers, they got right. the founding fathers got it right when they talked about in doubt by their creator for. -- endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights. among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. when the founders talked about that, among vase, it suggests there were some others. i happen to believe there was another when they had in mind.

that is the right to protect yourself, to protect your family, and to protect your property. we called the second amendment to the constitution. and a nail in a ball right. -- unalienable right. the founding fathers got it right. we have to be the defending fathers. we have to take our nation back. we have to take the possibility to dream big in this nation and to be able to achieve it and be able to take it back. unfortunately, we have become a nation of crises. we have an economic crisis. we have an entitlement spending crisis. we have got an energy crisis. we have got an illegal immigration crisis. we have got a 44 -- we have got

a moral crisis. the biggest crisis we have is a severe deficiency of leadership crisis. [applause] here is how we get this nation back on track. this is one fundamental difference between a businessman and politician. i've never held high elective office before. i am a businessman. the politicians, they want to propose stuff. it will get us -- have a chance of being passed. businessmen will proposed solutions that will fix the problem. we need to fix problems in this country.

the way i approached solving problems -- i did it for over 42 years. you make sure you are working on the right problem. you make sure you assign the right priority. surround yourself with good people. look at the top three priorities that the next president of the united states needs to tackle immediately. there is -- we have three top critical priorities. first, this foreign-policy. i happen to have a foreign policy philosophy. it is an extension of the reagan philosophy. peace through strength. the herman cain philosophy, peace through strength and

clarity. we must clarify who are friends of ours, clarify who our enemies are, and stop giving money to our enemies. [applause] the reason we need to clarify to our friends are it is such that we can tell the rest of the world who are friends are and who we will stand with starting with the nation of israel. our friends. we must make it clear where the united states stands. secondly, this economy is all my support. we do not need a solution that is going to trickle us to prosperity. to it starts with understanding

a very fundamental economic guiding principle. it is quite simply the engine of economic growth in this great economy of ours is the business sector. we have to put some fuel in the engine. the way we do that is a bold plan that we have developed. some people say it is too bold, i do not think it is too bold because america cannot wait for another solution that will not solve the problem. this bold plan starts with perot out the current tax code. throw it -- with throw out the current tax code. perot out the current tax code. and then pass -- throw out the current tax code. 9-9-9 plan.

9% flat tax. it will replace five sources of revenue. it will replace the corporate income tax, the personal income tax, the capital gains tax, the death tax, and the biggest tax of all, the payroll tax. all are collected with 9-9-9. one of the biggest criticisms about 9-9-9 is because we introduced the national sales tax. out the 10,000 ways that -- i would give them one that we will understand. the other thing is, with the national sales tax, it is not a

replacement tax. it replaces the hidden taxes. that is and everything that we buy. take a loaf of bread. the farmer pays taxes on his property. he pays the payroll tax for all of his employees. he miller who makes the floweur paste -- pace apparel tax. the banker pays taxes on his property. as well as the payroll tax for his employees. the trucking companies that deliver the bread, they pay taxes on property. and the payroll tax for the employees. the grocery store, if they make a profit, has to pay tax on that profits as well as the payroll tax. who do you think pays the taxes? we do. 9-9-9 takes up the invisible taxes and replace it with one

that you can see called 9%. that is how it works. [applause] we have to clarify our foreign- policy. we have to boost the economy. we need an energy independence strategy. we have the resources to do it. we have got plenty of pole. -- we have plenty of coal, oil, natural gas in order to become energy independent. and some of that, a tube. we just need the leadership and d -- and some of that, too. wages to the leadership. -- we just need the leadership.

what's the main? what do you mean? all these things that you want to do, you want to maximize all these resources. the eplf is not gone to let you do it. is -- the epa is not going to let you do it. the epa needs an attitude adjustment. they work for us. we do not work for them. attitude adjustment time at the epa. [applause] we can do it responsibly, but we do not have to stop all the things that we can do.

my approach to all these crises are the same. it is all based upon some guiding principles that i have used throughout my career. in order to turn stuff around, in order to build businesses, lead organizations. do what is right. start with what is right. not what is politically right. number 2, if you want to solve a problem, go to the source close to the problem. the source close to the problem is not in washington, d.c. let's go to the states to help solve these problems. third, one of the reasons we have all these crises is because we have become an entitlement society. there will be no new entitlement programs, only empowerment

programs. empower the states and in power businesses. -- empower businesses. i have been in washington all week. i have attracted a little bit of attention. [applause] there was an article in the new york times today that has attempted to attract some more attention. that is -- that happens when you start to show up at the top of the polls. the article illustrates some of the things we have to deal with in order to turn the country around. the article tries to make a case of how close -- i am very proud

to know them. they make it sound like we have had time to go fishing together. hunting together, skiing together. this may be a and breaking news announcement for the media. i am the brother from another mother. i am their brother from another mother. and proud of it. the reason i am running for president is because i want to unite the united states of america, not divide the united states of america.

here is how we -- here is what we need to do. we need to stay informed. stay involved. the reason you are here is because you want to defend the american dream. the founding fathers did their job. we have to do our job. stay inspired. they want you to believe that we cannot do this. but i know in my heart that we can do this. many things have inspired me to get on this journey. one of the things that have inspired me started 12 years ago when my first grandchild was born. i now have three grandkids. it is for the grand kids and all the other little faces that you are here to defend the american dream. we're going to be all right. it is not about us. it is about them. that is why we are doing what we do and why am i am -- why am i

-- why i am on this journey. i am reminded of one of our greatest presidents and how he inspired this nation, ronald reagan. when he is to describe the united states of america, as such shining city on a hill. and the last three years, that shining city on a hill has slid down to the side of the hilltop. we are on the side of the. this is why we need a renewal in america. wait a new type of leadership in america. my pledge to you as your president is such i will lead this nation with your help. back to the top of the hill where it belongs. i will never apologize for the greatness of the united states of america. [applause]

♪ ♪ i am america [applause] >> european settler is seeking a better life built this country. that prospect -- as prosperity it grew, so did politicians honker for power. -- hunger for power. huge government pensions and benefits may bankrupt the country. mass of make work projects have made the nation poorer.

this is not america. it is arden tina. -- argentina. it is one of the least economically free nations in the world and america is on the same course. history repeats itself. it is time to embrace economic freedom. >> ladies and gentlemen, please welcome the chairman of americans for prosperity. ♪ >> thank you very much. i do mean thank each and every one of you. you are americans for prosperity. it is my pleasure to you bring you a gentleman that we had one of -- at our first meeting five

years ago. it is rudy guiliani, a successful attorney, a prosecutor for the u.s. attorney's office. he returned to the key u.s. attorney for the southern district of new york. he kind -- he could have retired and then and made a great contribution. he went on to run for mayor of new york, lost the first time in 1989. he was reelected in 1997. as the former prosecutor for them -- and the mayor of new york, it was expected that he would clean up crime in new york. starting one window at a time, throughout the whole city, he turned new york around and make it the safest large city in

america. in knowing the education is the key for both preventing crime and building our citizens to get that first job, he focused on education reform. while president clinton was vetoing a welfare reform, real guiliani was implementing welfare reform in new york. rudy guiliani was implementing welfare reform in new york. he did this all while balancing the budget of new york city and cutting taxes at the same time, revitalizing the economy of new york. what he did was show that the government could be run to meet the needs of the people, to serve the people, and allow the people to keep more of their hard-earned dollars. we were all thankful for the

leadership that he showed in 9/11. time magazine named him the person of the year for 2001. please welcome a man who is still america's mayor. ♪ [applause] >> thank you very much. it is very nice to be here with you and to see more republicans in this room than in all of new york city. [applause] in new york city, republicans should have a law passed making them endangered species. [laughter] it is great to see you and it is nice to be here. i ran a city that was five to

one democratic. my city council had 45 democrats and six republicans. for me, to be with republicans, you might even agree with me. i was the first republican elected mayor in 25 years and the first one to remain a republican and 50. -- in 50. this is a very comfortable audience for me. i want to thank you for all the great work you did in the elections of 2010. if you have not done that work, just think about how much money would be spending right now. we meet at a time in which the united states is more divided than anytime since the vietnam war. we have not had this kind of class division, this kind of

turmoil, what we are saying with the occupy movement. in oakland, there were using molotov cocktails. this is a very dangerous movement. it indicates a tremendous division in our country. it is ironic that this division is happening under a president who promised to unify us. the president who has unified the onus has divided as more data we have never been divided. he has been relentless -- divided us more than we have never been divided. he has been relentless, a practice the politics of putting american against american, of class warfare, and promised to do a lot more because it is his

only chance of reelection. occupying wall street is a direct result of barack obama's relentless class warfare that he has been practicing from the time he was a candidate. it is not an accident, not just some kind of byproduct for the economy of our times. it is the direct result of his social philosophy, which she has been announcing now for three to four years. remember when he answered job a plumber. -- joe plummer. he revealed the seeds of this class warfare in this answer. he said, when asked, and do you think is appropriate to raise taxes, even if it will not raise

more revenue is? if you raise the capital gains tax, you would probably get less revenue is. that happened in the 1980's. when they raise the capital gains tax, the federal government lost hundreds of millions of dollars. joe the plumber said, would you raise taxes even if it did not raise more revenues? barack obama said, yes, that would be the fair thing to do. what would be fair about it? he would be practicing what i think is a principal panic of his economic and political philosophy. he would be registered bidding

wealth. he would be deciding -- and redistributing wealth. he should be done it -- he would be deciding who should have money and who should not have money. that is at the core of the economic philosophy of this administration. as a result of that, i believe that barack obama collins the occupy wall street -- owns the occupy wall street movement. it would not have happened but for his class warfare. remember, as it gets worse and worse, where it came from. barack obama. he supported it, he agrees with that, he sympathizes with it. as it gets worse and worse, i believe this will be the millstone around barack obama's

net that will take his presidency down. [applause] as the american people look at occupy wall street, what i believed most of the american people say about occupy wall street and all of its versions all over the country, how about trying something different to help our economy instead of occupying wall street and boston and oakland? how about to occupy a -- you occupy a job? [applause] how about working? ugh.ow that is tof woodstock is a lot more fun.

how about proceeding with your education and getting a better education? they would rather do would stop -- woodstock. i believe this will become a major factor in analyzing what this president has done for us. there is no doubt that he has ruined our economy. the american economy wants to recover. it is trying to recover. it has been trying to recover for a year. look at the money that is sitting on the sidelines in america and all over the world, money that wants to go to work. to put more people to work. why is that money being held back? the money is being held back because we have administration that is doing everything to

discourage the growth of the private sector. it has one concern and one concern only. grow government, more government union jobs, that is the only answer they have when dealing with this economy. that is gone to require higher taxes, more regulation, an energy program that makes no sense at all. if you need any indication of how the ideology of this administration is choking our recovery, i will give you one example. we all know that america should be striving for energy independence. [applause] there was a report done in april of this year by a very distinguished professor. but he said and the report was

that based on studies by this institute, if barack obama would allow the same level of drilling in the gulf of mexico that was going on before the bp oil spill, defeated that alone, he would create 150,000 to 200,000 more jobs. think about this for a minute. barack obama has to know, and the people around him have to know, the only way he will dig reelected is if he can produce more jobs. producing jobs is critical to his reelection efforts. he is willing to ignore that report to. he is willing to have the epa to leg permits in the back -- to delay it permits in the gulf of mexico. it is moving to the middle east, moving to russia. he is willing to ignore that.

his ideology, his anti-energy policy ideology is so great that it overcomes common sense. that is the problem with the president. that is why we have obamacare. his ideology overcame common sense. that is why we have his ridiculous stimulus program. ideology overcame common sense. this is why we have a jobs program that would not create a job for anyone. ideology overcame -- overwhelmed common sense. we have to get rid of it. [applause] we have to get rid of him. we have to get rid of them and go to the american people with a very clear program. i have seen it work. it worked for me in new york

city. i did not invent it. i borrowed it from governors in wisconsin and michigan. i borrow ditch from ronald reagan. here is what it is and is -- i borrowed it from ronald reagan. we have to reduce government spending, discretionary and non- discretionary. we have to do it relentlessly. the federal government is spending us into crushing debts, and it must be controlled. we must remove the idea of non- discretionary spending. [applause] there is no such thing as non- discretionary spending. all spending is discretionary. [laughter] it has to be voted by the house of representatives, by the senate, and signed by the president. that applies to medicare, that applies to medicare,