Tim Pawlenty Remarks for Tea Party Patriots Summit: Government is Too Damn Big VIDEO TEXT

FULL TEXT TRANSCRIPT

I’m here today to say “thank you.” Thank you for standing up to the “ruling class.” Thank you for standing up to the liberal power brokers, guardians of the status quo, and the royal triangle of greed: big government, big unions and big bailed out businesses. Thank you for being modern day Paul Revere’s – rallying Patriots to the cause of this great nation. The promising work of Governors Walker, Kasich, Christie, and so many others is the direct result of the dedicated Patriots in this room and across the country who had enough, stood up, fought back, and are restoring this country’s foundation.

Our Founders put it in terms so simple even a politician should be able to understand: They started with a most important principle: They didn’t say we’re endowed by our member of Congress or we’re endowed by our bureaucrat.

They said we’re endowed by our Creator with certain unalienable Rights -- and that government derives its powers from the consent of the governed. And what government did our Founders institute and our Fathers ratify? The one that begins, “We the people…”

The message of the Tea Party, as I see it, is simple. God made us to be free, and the Founding Fathers made the Constitution to keep us free. And just about every problem our country faces today comes from a rejection of one of those two principles. And every solution we need today will come from a return to those core principles. The Constitution was not written to limit freedom, it was written to limit government.

It appears President Obama has forgotten what this says. It says in the Constitution: “In order to form a more perfect Union….” Mr. President, that does not mean coddling out of control public employee unions. And Mr. President, Wisconsin does not need a lecture from somebody who’s never balanced a budget in his life.

Speaking of Wisconsin, will you join me in applauding Governor Walker for standing strong against overreaching unions?

Now, I’m not one who questions the existence of the President’s birth certificate. But, when you listen to his policies, don’t you at least wonder what planet he’s from? We don’t share President Obama’s worldview.

We don’t want a bigger government shoving mandates down our throats. He’s got it completely backwards. They, the bureaucrats, don’t tell us what to do. We, the people, tell the government what to do!

My friends, we need to restore American confidence and American optimism by restoring American common sense. As Washington proves time and time again, not everyone’s born or elected with common sense.

We need leaders who remember where they came from, and what made this nation the greatest country the world has ever known. For me, that real world experience started in my hometown of South St. Paul, Minnesota – a place filled with good-hearted people, strong families and the rock-solid values of the heartland.

When I grew up there, it was home to some of the world's largest stockyards and meat-packing plants. But when those plants shut down, so did a big part of the spirit and soul of my hometown. My mom died when I was 16 and later, my dad, who worked for a trucking company, lost his job for a while.

The foundations of my hometown and my family were shaken hard. At a young age, I saw up close the face of challenge, the face of hardship, the face of job loss -- and I saw in the mirror -- the face of a very uncertain future. I know many Americans are feeling that way today. I know that feeling. I lived it.

But in those moments, we learn some things. We remember what’s important.

We simply need more common sense, and less Obama non-sense. And let’s start with this: It’s complex -- and I know there may be some liberals watching this -- so I’ll say it slowly so they can follow along: We can’t spend more than we take in.

You can't do it as an individual, a family or a business. And we can’t let our government do it anymore! Just because we followed Greece into democracy, does not mean we should follow them into bankruptcy!

Big government spenders come with excuses. They say, "Oh, Governor, how do you do that? It's too hard. The politics are difficult and the unions are too tough”.

I know something about the spenders -- and I know something about difficult. I'm from the state of United States Senator Al Franken.

But we cut government in Minnesota. If we can do it there, we can do it anywhere. It wasn’t easy. I set a record for vetoes. Had the first government shutdown in Minnesota’s history. Took one of the longest transit strikes in the country’s history to get public employee benefits under control. And, I cut spending in real terms for the first time in the history of my state.

My friends, it’s time for the federal government to do the same. We should not raise the debt ceiling! We should pass a constitutional amendment to balance the budget! We should appoint judges who will not legislate from the bench. We must repeal Obamacare! And we must throw the ridiculous federal tax code overboard!

And let’s require, under penalty of perjury, every member of Congress to do their own tax returns without the help of a tax preparer, accountant or lawyer. Let them experience firsthand the mind-numbing, burdensome, frightening beast our tax system has become.

Do you remember the guy who ran in the NYC mayor's race who ran his entire campaign on a simple motto: He said over and over: "The rent is too damn high". So here’s our simple motto: "The Government’s too damn big!"

Americans need jobs, not more government-forced anything. The private sector, not government, is the answer to job creation. We shouldn’t ask Washington D.C. how to create jobs. We should ask the people who actually provide the jobs!

Their answer is clear and simple and it’s this: “Reduce my costs and get government off my back” Ladies and gentlemen, America needs job growth, not government growth!

My friends, none of this is going to be easy. If prosperity were easy, everybody around the world would be prosperous. If security were easy, everybody around the world would be secure. And if freedom were easy, everybody around the world would be free. They’re not.

It takes extraordinary effort. It takes extraordinary commitment. It takes extraordinary strength to stand up to those who oppose these principles. But we can do it.

Valley Forge wasn't easy. Settling the West wasn't easy. Winning World War II wasn’t easy. And Going to the moon wasn’t easy. This ain't about easy. This is about rolling up our sleeves, plowing forward, and getting the job done.

This is our guide. This is our Constitution. "We, the People of the United States" will rise up again. We will take back our government. This is our country.

Our Founding Fathers created it, Americans embraced it, Ronald Reagan personified it and Lincoln stood courageously to protect it. Now, as ever, "This nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom....” Our “government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth….” and America will remain the greatest country the world has ever known.

Thank you. God bless you. And God bless the United States of America!

TEXT CREDIT: Tim Pawlenty's Freedom First PAC PO Box 9190 St. Paul, MN 55109

IMAGE CREDIT: Official photo of Governor Tim Pawlenty (R-MN).

VIDEO CREDIT: GovernorTimPawlenty

Rob Portman Weekly Republican Address TEXT PODCAST VIDEO 02/26/11

Podcast of the address: Download MP3 for PODCAST || FULL TEXT TRANSCRIPT BELOW. ||

In the Weekly Republican Address, Sen. Rob Portman of Ohio says, "We've had to relearn the lesson we all know in our hearts: you can't spend your way to prosperity. As American families have tightened their belts over the past couple of years and businesses have had to do more with less, the federal government has taken the opposite path, spending more, growing bigger, and becoming more involved in our economy and our lives. This historic failure to control spending directly affects our economy and the ability to create jobs."

Sen. Portman explains, "There is an urgency about this that the American people get even while many in Washington seem to be in denial. We must rise to the challenge and work together to meet our economic and fiscal problems head-on by putting in place pro-growth measures and spending restraint and we must do it now."

Sen. Portman expresses his disappointment that Democrats in Washington still don't seem to understand this. "Having chosen to duck the tough choices for the coming year and beyond, the President and Democrats in Congress are now objecting to any reductions in spending Congress can control in the current budget year. This is despite the fact that this year's $1.6 trillion deficit is at record levels, and over the past two years under Democrat leadership, this type of spending has increased 24 percent, and over 80 percent if you include the Stimulus. Our goal as Republicans is to make sensible reductions in this spending and create a better environment for job growth, not to shutdown the government. Getting our debt and deficits under control is the first step we can take, and the single most important step Washington can take, to get our economy moving and create the jobs we so badly need."

Full TEXT Transcript of Senator Portman’s Address:

“I’m Rob Portman. I am proud to represent the people of Ohio as a new United States Senator. What I heard in my travels to every county in Ohio over the past couple of years, and what I continue to hear across our state, is a deep concern over jobs and the future of our economy. There is an understandable frustration with Washington's failure to address even the most basic problems.

“People are looking for leadership to help create jobs and opportunity and instead what they see is the same, tired political responses. We were told two years ago this month that the way to grow the economy was through bigger government, more spending, and more borrowing. The Stimulus plan ended up costing over a trillion dollars when you include the interest on the money that had to be borrowed to pay for it. It was a grand experiment that failed. It not only failed to produce new jobs, an economic boost the Obama Administration promised, the trillion dollar price tag, combined with higher levels of spending across government, added up to a record deficit again this year and a national debt that is now dangerously close to the size of the entire U.S. economy. This growing red ink is hurting the economy today and mortgaging the future for our kids and grandkids.

“So we've had to relearn the lesson we all know in our hearts: you can't spend your way to prosperity. As American families have tightened their belts over the past couple of years and businesses have had to do more with less, the federal government has taken the opposite path, spending more, growing bigger, and becoming more involved in our economy and our lives.

“This historic failure to control spending directly affects our economy and the ability to create jobs. It pushes up interest rates, crowds out private investment, and leaves us with three bad choices, either far higher taxes, even more borrowing, or both. Left unchecked, these mounting debts could lead to the kind of financial crises we’ve seen in Greece and other countries. At the same time, job creators tell us Washington has added to the uncertainty by pursuing other policies that stifle job growth, including onerous new federal regulations, a tax code that expires, making it a political football, unpredictable rising health care costs, and an increasing reliance on the Mideast and other volatile parts of the world for our energy. It’s time to change course.

“There is an urgency about this that the American people get even while many in Washington seem to be in denial. We must rise to the challenge and work together to meet our economic and fiscal problems head-on by putting in place pro-growth measures and spending restraint and we must do it now.

“This means enacting new tax policies that take away uncertainty and encourage innovation and investment and make us more competitive in a global economy. It means real health care reform that truly reduces costs, helping working families and small businesses afford access, and addressing the biggest cost-driver in entitlement programs that everyone acknowledges are unsustainable. It means sensible regulatory reform that reverses the growing burdens on employers that drive jobs overseas. It means a national energy policy that uses our own resources to stop our dangerous dependence on foreign oil, and it means stopping the red ink that threatens to swamp our economy.

“Once a year Presidents are required to submit a federal budget that sets out a vision for the coming year and into the future. It is a leadership opportunity and a solemn responsibility. There was a lot of anticipation surrounding the President's budget release last week. After all, President Obama had repeatedly and eloquently described the dire fiscal condition of the nation and he promised action. In last year’s budget proposal, he established a Fiscal Commission that issued a stern report in November calling for deep spending reductions to stave off a fiscal and economic disaster. The President himself has rightly pointed out, ‘What we have done is kicked the can down the road,’ and ‘we are now at the end of the road and [are] not in a position to kick it any further.’

“And, yet, the President's budget did exactly that. He rejected the dire warnings and recommendations of his own Fiscal Commission and not only kicked the can down the road but made the road more perilous by advocating deeper debt and ignoring bipartisan calls for entitlement reform and pro-growth policies, including tax reform and regulatory restraint.

“Instead of making the tough choices all Americans know are necessary to get our fiscal house in order and strengthen our economy, the President's budget locks in the higher levels of spending over the past two years and doubles the national debt. As the Democrat co-chairman of the President's Fiscal Commission said, ‘it goes nowhere near where they’ll have to go’ to address our fiscal problems.

“Having chosen to duck the tough choices for the coming year and beyond, the President and Democrats in Congress are now objecting to any reductions in spending Congress can control in the current budget year. This is despite the fact that this year's $1.6 trillion deficit is at record levels, and over the past two years under Democrat leadership, this type of spending has increased 24 percent, and over 80 percent if you include the Stimulus. Our goal as Republicans is to make sensible reductions in this spending and create a better environment for job growth, not to shut down the government. Getting our debt and deficits under control is the first step we can take, and the single most important step Washington can take, to get our economy moving and create the jobs we so badly need.

“In Ohio and around the country, people are looking for common sense leadership to get us back on track. They know what we Americans are capable of, the innovation, invention and millions of new jobs that are within our grasp if Washington will act with resolve to create the climate for success. But they know that we risk the American dream becoming a fiscal nightmare if we do not act, and act now to do what's right.

“Thank you for listening.”

VIDEO and IMAGE CREDIT: gopweeklyaddress

TEXT CREDIT: United States Senator Rob Portman