Pence talks at townhall meetings

 

Here is an article about Pence's townhall meetings last week. Pence continues to stand strong in protecting our borders and fighting the war on terror. He also continues to tackle the tough issue of the medicare drug entitlement to clearly articulate the conservative stance of how it will hurt America in the long run. This article is written by Rebecca Green of the Journal Gazette in Fort Wayne.


DECATUR – U.S. Rep. Mike Pence, R-6th, spent much of Wednesday afternoon answering questions during a town hall-style meeting at the Woodcrest Retirement Center, questions typical of the ones he’s been hearing throughout his district.

The opening question from Farley Thornsberry focused on illegal immigration, a common concern among his constituents, Pence said.

Pence told Thornsberry and the others gathered in the auditorium at the retirement center that a “nation without borders is not a nation,” and recounted a number of legislative measures he would like to tackle to address the problem.

Legislators should revisit the issue of “birthright citizenship,” which promises citizenship to any baby born within U.S. borders, Pence said.

But first the country must work to seal its borders, he said.

“If you shut the door first, you can act responsibly,” he said.

Other questions focused on Medicare’s Part D prescription drug plan and the future of Social Security, and toward the end, settled on the issue of foreign companies operating U.S. ports.

Pence said he has called President Bush to request he delay the sale of the shipping operations at six major U.S. ports to a company owned by the United Arab Emirates.
And Pence said it is likely there will be an aggressive congressional response to, and thorough investigation of, the pending deal with Dubai Ports World.

“We all know our harbors represent an area of vulnerability,” Pence said. “These are not ordinary times.”

After the meeting, Pence said federal officials just do not have enough information about the company to make a decision. Americans know there are millions of tons of cargo that come through U.S. ports every day, and some of that cargo is not inspected. He said many people find it troubling the country could be adding to a security risk.

Before opening the meeting to questions, Pence praised Decatur Mayor Fred Isch and other officials in their “tireless efforts” to secure money for the flood-damaged portions of the city.

Late last week, city officials announced the receipt of more than $2 million to help buy out homes destroyed by the July 2003 record-setting flood along the St. Marys River.

“I got to know all these people back around flood time,” Pence said of Isch; Rod Renkenberger, Maumee River Basin Commission executive director; and Roger Gage, Decatur building inspector. “It was a time when the city demonstrated its character and its toughness.”

Earlier in the day, Pence held a similar meeting at Bellmont High School.

Ann Coulter supports Pence for president

 

Ann Coulter has been telling crowds for the past 2 weeks of how she loves Mike Pence and would like to see him as president in 2008. Below is an article written from when she spoke last week at Indiana University.


Conservative author Ann Coulter drew a large crowd to the IU Auditorium Thursday night. More than 2,500 of the auditorium's 3,200 seats were full, but that number dwindled throughout her speech as many students were ejected for disruptions and others simply walked out after certain comments.

Coulter, author of such books as "How to Talk to a Liberal (If You Must)" and "Slander: Liberal Lies About the American Right," gave a speech titled "Liberals Are Wrong About Everything."

The speech drew many dissenters and it didn't take long for public outbursts to occur. Within the first two minutes of her speech, one student yelled out to Coulter, "Go back to Germany," to which another student responded with obscenities. The two got involved in a heated altercation and four officers had to remove the students from the event.

But the police response to this initial incident didn't mean the rest of the speech would go uninterrupted. More than 10 times, Coulter stopped speaking -- sometimes for more than a few minutes -- to wait for protesters to be removed. She often commented that the ushers weren't doing their jobs properly and that the event was poorly organized.

"You are paying me to give a speech," she said. "I mean, if you don't want me to keep talking, that's fine, but I think I'll just do the speech. Hopefully, the idiot liberals will be out of here by the second half of the speech.

"You guys are doing a great job." she said sarcastically later to auditorium ushers. "I guess they did hire Democrats as ushers."

When her speech could actually be heard over both cheers and boos, Coulter touched on a string of topics about her views of liberal inadequacies. She claimed liberals "hate God and hate America," and that there is no hope for the Democratic Party, citing a 25-year reign of Republican dominance.

"It's time for someone (in the Democratic Party) to say, let's start over," she said.

She took shots at several notable liberals, including former presidential candidates Howard Dean and Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., and filmmaker Michael Moore. She said that Democrats often try to appear moderate, but she thinks they fail in that regard.

"If the Democrats want to stay in the middle of the road, why do they keep sticking with Teddy Kennedy?" she said. "Didn't he have some trouble staying in the middle of the road?"

She attacked the "liberal media," saying she thought CBS anchor Dan Rather's resignation was "one down, 16 to go." She did, however, say there was a need for stations such as "Air America," which she claims has only 200 listeners.

"We need these liberal talk radio shows to keep the tinfoil-hat types busy while we run the country, democratize the Middle East and secure our borders," she said.

Coulter raised some controversy in her speech when she said that Democrats don't want democracy to succeed in Iraq. She said, "They don't think the little brown boys could handle democracy," to which students responded, "We don't tolerate racism here. Go back to Germany."

Coulter even made comments about the physical appearances of those who were removed.

"Another attractive Democrat," she said as junior Sean Hall, a man wearing a blonde wig, white sheet and a sign that said "Coultergeist" was removed.

"I think we should have saved the ushers some time and just removed all the ugly

people," she said.

During her question-and-answer session, Coulter responded to both fans and protesters. One comment that drew strong audience reactions came from a young man who asked her if she didn't like Democrats, wouldn't it just be better to have a dictatorship? Coulter responded with a jab at the way the student talked.

"You don't want the Republicans in power, does that mean you want a dictatorship, gay boy?" she said.

IU College Republicans President Shane Kennedy defended Coulter's comments by stressing that the speech was for entertainment and attendees should have expected Coulter to say controversial comments.

"I think the guy could have been more respectful to her," he said. "I mean, we already know that she was going to be controversial and she was just saying what people were thinking. If you are going to talk like you are gay, then Ann Coulter is going to call you gay. Of course, she said it in a spiteful tone, but it was expected."

Union Board, which brought Coulter for the event, wished not to comment on any of the content of her speech.

Another student asked Coulter what she was doing better than extremist Democrats, to which she responded, "selling more books."

Coulter made a few comments about both IU and Indiana. She said students at Harvard listen to her comments and ask questions later. One student yelled out, "We're not Harvard," to which she responded, "Yeah, you can't come up with questions."

Coulter also praised Republican Indiana Congressman Mike Pence and said she would support him for president. She also said she doesn't hate Democratic Indiana Senator Evan Bayh as much as other Democrats.

"Evan Bayh isn't as insane as other Democrats," she said. "But he certainly isn't as good as the worst Republican."

Even though many students were removed from the event and Coulter questioned the security, Union Board President Brad Allen said he was impressed with how everything went.

"I think she had a different idea of how the security was going to be," he said. "I think the security did a great job and we kept things under control."

Students were split on the crowd reactions. Kennedy said he thought that the event was moderate. Others complained throughout the speech about interruptions and students yelling profanities.

"I thought it was very immature," freshman Andrea Knapp said. "They should have let her talk. It was embarrassing."

Others found Coulter's speech to be offensive.

"She was just rude," sophomore Elana Kanter said. "From the 'brown boy' comment to calling that guy 'gay boy,' she was really rude. It was uncalled for."

Ann Coulter splits IU's crowd

A badge of honor

 

Amidst all the trials and scandels that are going on in Washington today, Mike Pence says that the real scandel is runaway spending from Congress. Here is an article written in Pence's district about his views on these trying times and staying true to fiscal conservatism.

Indiana Congressman Mike Pence (R-6th) wears the label of “fiscal conservative” like a badge of honor, and has clashed repeatedly with members of his own party — including the president of the United States — over what he views as federal spending policies that have run amok.

As chairman of the House Republican Study Committee, the largest caucus in the House with some 110 members, Pence believes that while lobbyist scandals and corrupt lawmakers make headlines on the nightly news, “The real scandal in Washington D.C. is runaway federal spending” and a budget deficit that has reached $8 trillion.

Speaking Wednesday at Woodcrest Retirement Center during a rare visit to Decatur, Pence said that despite all the challenges facing Congress during the upcoming session, “the first priority is to restore the confidence of the public in the fiscal and moral integrity” of the legislative body.

“The headlines announcing one scandal after another are troubling to the American people; they’re demoralizing to the country,” Pence told a small crowd of three dozen citizens at Woodcrest. “And I think moral and fiscal integrity are inextricably tied together.”

Pence said there must be “no more lobbyists flying congressmen all over the country, or hiding pork barrel spending projects in appropriations bills. It’s time to change the way we spend the people’s money.”

The Indiana congressman said the Republican Study Committee was “on the right track” last year in delivering to the president “the tightest budget since the Reagan years.”

“Then came Katrina,” said Pence of the hurricane which wreaked havoc in the southern gulf states. Congress, he said, reacted quickly and appropriately to the devastation, appropriating $60 billion in six days for hurricane relief efforts.

“But your congressman asked, ‘How are we going to pay for this?’ I led the effort to recommend that, instead of raising taxes, that maybe we could find some budget cuts” to offset the rising costs.

And those efforts came to fruition earlier this month.

“I was proud to stand behind the president 10 days ago when he signed the first deficit reduction act since 1997,” Pence said.

Pence fielded questions from the audience during the town hall style meeting, and one query focused on the headlines of the day. The congressman was asked about the Bush administration’s decision to shift control of operations in six U.S. ports to a company owned by the United Arab Emirates.

Pence, as have many lawmakers from both political parties, parted ways with the president on the port issue. Bush has defended the decision and has vowed to veto any efforts to override the move.

“During ordinary times normal procedures for reviewing port security contracts might be appropriate, but these are not ordinary times,” said Pence. “We are a nation at war, and to ensure the security of our nation’s major ports the president should put a hold on this contract until it can be investigated.”

Other topics upon which Pence was asked to comment included immigration, the Medicare Part D program, the gerrymandering of legislative districts and Social Security.

The GOP lawmaker called illegal immigration “a fundamental threat to the fabric of our rule of law and to our national security,” but noted that there are forces at work to maintain the status quo.

“We could close our borders; all we lack is the will,” said Pence. “And the economics of the issue is that business forces — those who benefit from cheap labor — hold a large sway over the policies in Washington.”

Pence also expressed mild disappointment that the president has seemingly abandoned his efforts to reform Social Security by allowing the establishment of individual retirement accounts.

He called Bush “a good man, but not a good communicator.”

Runaway federal spending the real scandal, Pence says

Pence calls for hold on port

 

Mike Pence released this statement to urge the Bush administration to put the contract on hold for the port.


"During ordinary times normal procedures for reviewing port security contracts might be appropriate, but these are not ordinary times."

"We are a nation at war, and to ensure the security of our nation's major ports the president should put a hold on this contract until it can be investigated," Pence said.

Finally, bipartisanship comes to Washington

Pence tough on UN

 

Here is an article written by a blogger after Mike Pence sat down with certain folks from CPAC this two weekends ago. This article talks about Pence's stance on the UN and how to reform it in the 21st century.

WASHINGTON D.C. – Mike Pence is one of the authors and the primary sponsors of the “tough” version of United Nations reform currently under consideration by Congress. During a question-and-answer session with Congressman Pence, I had the chance to ask him if he believes that United Nations reform will pass this year.

Congressman Pence thinks that there will be United Nations reform this year, partially through legislation, and partially through the tenacious efforts of John Bolton. Pence characterized the House UN reform bill as setting a timeline for reforms that the United Nations has already embraced on issues like accounting, transparency, and human rights.

Congressman Pence believes that the US must use the power of the purse to implement UN reform with teeth and that his bill does that. He hasn’t seen the latest iteration of the Senate bill, but the Congressman believes that the House and Senate will come together to pass a tough reform bill.

According to Congressman Pence, the UN has “consistently been an utter failure in its core mission, which was to bring the free nations of the world together to confront tyranny in a collective way” evidenced most dramatically by the unwillingness of the UN to follow through on sixteen separate resolutions throughout the 1990s; "it wasn’t that diplomacy failed, it wasn’t that America failed, it was the United Nations that failed".

Congressman Pence believes that if these reforms are not achieved, then the US needs to "seriously consider putting our heads together with the other nations of the earth that are committed to freedom and consider a new forum for the twenty-first century" – a forum that won’t spend "an enormous amount of time trying to tie down this great nation".

Congressman Mike Pence on United Nations Reform

Pence in South Carolina?

 

Here is an article written by SCGOP which talks about what South Carolina is thinking about 2008. The real question is when is Mike Pence going down to South Carolina?

2008 is already here. Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney spoke at the Greenville County South Carolina GOP convention today. He was articulate and personable and was received very well, even by the most conservative of attendees. The result of this appearance cemented in my mind that Romney will not only be competitive but a force in 2008.
Let's take a look at 2008. Here is the breakdown of all the factions in the GOP primary electorate and the pieces of the pie.

Bush Wing 30% of the Party

Center Right, Moderate Conservative including Conservative "pragmatics" or "realists." This wing contains those that care deeply about politics and polls and base many of their actions on the next election. This wing also contains those that are totally apathetic. They will vote but the package will be more important than ideology. This wing also includes Evangelical Christians who care deeply about social issues but could care less about the size of government.

Reagan Wing 25% of the Party

True die hard conservatives who believe in traditional values, limited govenment and strong national defense. Almost all of the "Christian Right" would be in the Reagan Wing. Doesn't like politics for politic's sake but feels called to get involved, these are purists.

Rockefeller Wing 25% of the Party

Believe in liberal social policies and corporate welfare for big business. They believe in Big Government and quasi-elitist oligarchy.

Buchanan/Taft Wing 10% of the Party

America first, Protectionists, Isolationists, and strongly anti-illegal immigrant and sometimes legal immigrant.

Goldwater Wing 10% of the Party

Die hard conservatives, libertarian leaning, not in Reagan wing because of mistrust of "Christian Right."

With the primary getting started earlier than ever before, John McCain is the clear frontrunner. McCain has been mending old wounds from his go around in 2000 so well that many are worried and have already started "A Stop McCain Movement." The appointed candidate to stop McCain is Senator George Allen of Virginia who is also doing well in early committments and support. I have to wonder how Allen can be the "anti-McCain" for conservatives when indeed Sen. Allen is to the left of McCain on three big 2008 issues. The Medicare bill, No Child Left Behind, and the Right to Life.

Senator Allen also has huge Romney problems. There can also be no doubt watching Allen and Romney speak that if Romney was a Presbyterian from Virginia he would be President right now and if Allen was a Mormon from Massachusetts he would be back in Boston practicing law. Romney has the "package" that Allen lacks. Mitt Romney will hurt Allen.

But McCain also has problems of his own, mainly Rudy Guiliani.

Both Sam Brownback and Mike Huckabee will put together great organizations but both of their positions on immigration make them persona nongrata, or unelectable to thirty percent of the electorate right off the bat. I doubt that either of them connects with "small government conservatives" but they will get support from liberal to moderate Christians.

With Huckabee, McCain, Romney and Allen already running around South Carolina, things in 2008 could get interesting. In the end, from Upstate to Low Country I see Guiliani and McCain splitting the Rockefeller wing with some small scraps going to Romney. Senator Bill Frist, Allen, Huckabee, Brownback, and Romney will all compete to the death for the Bush Wing. In the end, Allen will get a "plurality of Bushies" but not enough to carry South Carolina. Senator McCain will pick up a third to a half of the Goldwater wing but his real test will be to see if he can pick up any in the Bush wing.

Congressman Tom Tancredo will win the Paleo wing and "in South Carolina the protectionist wing will go with Allen."

What does that leave????

The Reagan Wing

I do not think anybody already listed can win the Reagan wing. The conservatives in the Reagan wing are done compromising and want a real conservative. The last ten years have been very disappointing for the Reaganites.

Who will they go for???

Speaker Newt Gingrich?

No

Christian Reaganites will remember Newt's infidelity and limited government Reaganites will remember his support for the Medicare bill and his caving on the budget as speaker. If the Speaker runs he will have to compete for votes among the Bush wing further hurting Allen and splitting up the vote.

I feel like the only candidate that can get the Reagan wing to vote in bloc and pick up the Goldwater wing is Indiana Congressman Mike Pence. He isn't well known, but either is Allen or Romney. Pence has what they lack: true Conservatism that will appeal to both fiscal conservatives and social conservatives. Pence already has support Upstate and I'm sure his message will resonate throughout all of South Carolina.

Pence has everything it takes to win the GOP primary. He can communicate, is telegenic, and those who have been paying attention already know he can lead. From what I hear, he gave an amazing speech at the Club For Growth's winter conference in Aventura, FL yesterday. He fires up the base like nobody else. When Reaganites find out about him they will fall in love with him.

Romney will do better than expected in 2008, but Pence will blow the roof off. The only question is, "When is Mr. Pence coming to South Carolina?"

South Carolina 2008: Romney Heads South

CPAC and 2008

 

Here is an article written by Ryan Sager about 2008 and Mike Pence's CPAC speech.

At last week's 33rd annual Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington, D.C., a clear frontrunner emerged for the 2008 Republican primary: Ronald Wilson Reagan. Everyone wants to be Reagan's heir, it seems. Absolutely no one wants to be George W. Bush's -- at least when it comes to domestic policy.

The criticism of Bush started with the very first panel, on immigration. "Open borders are wrong … no matter how good they are for the restaurant industry," said Rep. Tom Tancredo (R-Colo.), blasting the president's proposed guest-worker program. "It is the president who is out of step with his party, not Tom Tancredo."

And Tancredo's criticism of Bush didn't stop at the Mexican border. He also questioned whether the Republican Party under Bush stands for anything at all anymore. The president's No Child Left Behind Act, the Medicare prescription-drug bill -- the two major legislative accomplishments of the Bush administration -- both were tremendous errors, Tancredo said, and the GOP should admit its mistakes and repeal them. "We are not the party of bigger government," he said.

Things didn't get much better for Bush from there. Even the presumed presidential candidate most closely affiliated with Bush-style conservatism, Sen. George Allen of Virginia, blasted the Republican Party's "spending problem" as the keynote speaker on the conference's first night. But the real fireworks came on the morning of the last day, as Rep. Mike Pence, chairman of the Republican Study Committee, laid it all on the line.

Pence has been an open critic of the Bush administration since the passage of the Medicare prescription drug bill in late 2003. His first real shot across Bush's bow came when he gave the keynote address at CPAC a few months later in early 2004. At the time, he compared the Republican Party to a ship that had drifted off course. And then in 2005, after Hurricane Katrina, Pence led a full-on rebellion of conservative House members against the president's out-of-control spending.

That rebellion having led to little in the way of concrete changes in either the White House's or the House leadership's attitudes toward the size of government, Pence arrived at this year's CPAC in a mood that can best be described in one word: pissed.

"Two years ago," Pence said, coming on stage to thunderous applause, "I likened the state of the Republican movement to a tall ship at sea, a ship that had drifted off course … I believed we could get back on course … I no longer believe that.

"It's one thing to drift off course," he said, "it's quite another to continue on that course when half the crew and passengers are pointing out that nothing looks familiar … not to mention tens of millions of Americans lining the shoreline yelling, 'You're going the wrong way!'

"Whether it's called 'compassionate conservatism' or 'big government Republicanism,' after years of record increases in federal spending, more government is now the accepted Republican philosophy in Washington," he said. "We are in danger of becoming the party of big government."

That the Republican Party has arrived, to paraphrase Reagan, at another time for choosing, has become undeniable. While all candidates for the GOP nomination in 2008 will be positioning themselves as the heirs to Bush's leadership in the War on Terror (though, perhaps, with some refinements), it is difficult to imagine any candidate declaring himself or herself Bush's domestic heir.

In looking for a way forward, then, many -- as they did over and over again at CPAC -- reach back to Reagan. There was a conservatism that was sunny, optimistic, resolute in its pursuit of American security and wedded to conservative principle.

Republicans may recall, as Pence quoted Reagan saying in a 1975 address to CPAC: "A political party cannot be all things to all people. It must represent certain fundamental beliefs which must not be compromised to political expediency, simply to swell its ranks."

Republicans have had quite enough of political expediency from 1999 to now. The question is whether conservatives can any longer agree on their fundamental beliefs. They've got roughly two years to figure it out.

Dutch Treat

We must marry fiscal and ethical reform

 

Pence issued this statement today

"The headlines announcing one scandal after another have grieved the heart of the American people and have eroded public confidence in our national government's commitment to governing of the highest moral caliber.

"The Bible says that 'Righteousness exalts a nation,' so the converse must also be true. So Congress is preparing to fight for ethics reform, not because such scandals hurt our party, but because they do hurt the nation.

"But as we reform our rules of ethics, we will do so with the understanding that these are but symptoms of the core problem.

"The real scandal in Washington D.C. is runaway federal spending. "Fiscal and moral integrity are inseparable issues.

"So it's not enough to change the way lobbyists spend their money, Mr. Speaker. We must change the way Congress spends the people's money.

"Only by marrying budget reform and ethics reform can we hope to restore the confidence of the American people in the fiscal and moral integrity of our national legislature."

There are conservatives left

 

Here is an excerpt from a Townhall.com article saying that even though we have a majority of Republicans we don't have a majority of conservatives. But even though the Republican leadership is swaying towards the left, there are some good conservatives left and Mike Pence is the leader of them. You can read the entire article by clicking on the link below.


The prospects for these reform are good, given the current leadership lineup, if the President will get on board.

In the Senate, Majority Leader Bill Frist has a 92 percent overall approval rating by the American Conservative Union (ACU). Assistant Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has a 96 percent ACU rating. Both have 95 percent ratings from Americans for Tax Reform (ATR), but Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW) rates them with a 66 and 69 respectively.

In better news, over in the House, where members are more responsive to their constituents, Speaker Dennis Hastert has a 100 percent ACU rating, as does the new Majority Leader, John Boehner. The ACU gives House Whip Roy Blunt a 96. Their ATR ratings are 100, 100 and 95, respectively, but their ratings by CAGW are 50, 75 and 65 respectively.

The best news is the emergence of a new conservative core in the House -- a core that is making significant progress toward reviving Ronald Reagan's conservative agenda, which stalled after the departure of former House Speaker, Newt Gingrich. They're led by Indiana Rep. Mike Pence, a rising star who, for the record, commands 100 percent ratings by the ACU and ATR, is labeled a "taxpayer hero" by CAGW, and was awarded a glorious zero (0) by the American Civil Liberties Union!

Rep. Pence leads a group of 100 true conservatives under the innocuous label, "The Republican Study Committee." Here, he and his fellow conservatives have rallied around principles that Mr. Pence outlined in a speech last fall, "Another Time for Choosing," picking up the central theme of Ronald Reagan's famous 1964 speech "A Time For Choosing."

To be sure, however, the RSC's task would be much easier with President Bush leading the charge. In what remains of his second term, the President can still stir up the grassroots; he can still rally conservative leadership in the House and Senate; he can still make good on his promises to cut taxes and government spending; and he can still provide the bully-pulpit voice for the Reagan revival.

In Ronald Reagan's words, "Our task now is not to sell a philosophy, but to make the majority of Americans, who already share that philosophy, see that modern conservatism offers them a political home. We are not a cult; we are members of a majority. Let's act and talk like it. The job is ours and the job must be done. If not by us, who? If not now, when?"

As Samuel Adams noted, "It does not take a majority to prevail...but rather an irate, tireless minority, keen on setting brushfires of freedom in the minds of men."

It is time for President Bush to choose -- as our fellow Patriots already have.

Some Republicans ARE Conservative

Pence gets presidential reception at CPAC

 

Mike Pence gave the best speech at CPAC this year which Human Events highlighted him getting a Presidential reception after the speech. Pence then spoke to bloggers and CPAC attendees in a small setting to discuss the future of the conservative movement. Below is an article by Human Events about the speech. You can read his entire speech the post before and read about the presidential reception in a link below.

During his remarks at CPAC 2006 early Saturday morning, Human Events Man of the Year Rep. Mike Pence (R.-Ind.) expressed his concern at the "big-spending ship" Republicans in Washington refuse to steer back to conservative waters.

Pence said for a time he thought Congress had merely "drifted off course" but later realized they weren’t about to attempt to curb their big-spending habits.

"I believed that we were off course not because we'd abandoned these principles, or forgotten the shining city on the hill,” he said. "We'd simply made honest, but flawed calculations on how to get there. I no longer believe that. It's one thing to drift off course…it's quite another thing to continue that course when half the crew and passengers are pointing out that nothing looks familiar ... not to mention the tens of millions of Americans lining the shoreline screaming, 'You're going the wrong way!'"

He said at this point, an increase in government has become Republican philosophy in Washington, D.C.

"The evidence for this is overwhelming ... while President Bush has called for increases in non-defense spending of 4 percent for the last five years, Congress has delivered budgets spending more than twice that each year ... Congress has spent $380 billion more than the President requested under Republican control," he said.

However, Pence countered, there is hope. Many positive changes have been made under Republican leadership in recent years.

"We've dismantled and scattered the network of terrorists within our United States," he said. "We've liberated nations from oppressive, murderous regimes and the American soldier has brought the promise of democracy and freedom to millions who have never known it. We've cut taxes again and again. President Bush has put the brakes on leftist, activist courts with his sound appointments, including two strict constructionist justices to the Supreme Court of the United States. We've stopped the horror of partial-birth abortions."

But, he said, spending is out of control with earmarks in the tens of thousands and America is tired of it.

"Our ship is running out of fuel, our crew is running out of patience, and we are running out of time."

He said it's not time to abandon ship, however.

"We will find our way to morning in America. But first, we must go back to the future -- back to doing the hard thing because it's the right thing."

In closing he told listeners at CPAC not to give up.

“If there were not cause for hope, you would not be here today. Each of you has chosen to stay and fight for this country's future, its course, and its place in history, as a defender of freedom and a beacon to all nations.

"You have chosen to stand against the defeatists and the preachers of inevitability. Each of you is armed with unique strengths, talents and skills, but most of all, conviction -- the strength of knowing that our cause is just and our cause is right. And that the American cause is mankind's cause for it is in the hearts of all people to be free."

Republican ship 'off course'

Pence gets presidential reception

In danger of being the party of big government

 

This is Pence's speech at CPAC!

Two years ago, when I presented the keynote address here at CPAC 2004, I likened the state of the Republican movement to a tall ship at sea -- a ship that had drifted off-course from essential conservative principles.

I said we had lost our way. But I believed we could get back on course - would get back on course. We could make the corrections. We needed only to keep our eye on True North -- our core principles of limited government and traditional moral values.

I believed that we were off course not because we'd abandoned these principles, or forgotten the shining city on the hill. We'd simply made honest, but flawed calculations on how to get there.

I no longer believe that.

It's one thing to drift off course...

It's quite another thing to continue that course when half the crew and passengers are pointing out that nothing looks familiar ... not to mention the tens of millions of Americans lining the shoreline screaming, "You're going the wrong way!"

In short, we're no longer adrift. We might've been when we started but now "off course" is the accepted course.

The evidence for this is overwhelming ... while President Bush has called for increases in non-defense spending of 4 percent for the last five years, Congress has delivered budgets spending more than twice that each year ... Congress has spent $380 billion more than the President requested under Republican control.

Whether it's called "compassionate conservatism" or "big government republicanism," after years of record increases in federal spending, more government is now the accepted Republican philosophy in Washington.

We are in danger of becoming the party of Big Government. And for the sake of our party and for the sake of the nation we must say, here and now, to all who would lead us in this new century, "the era of big Republican government is over!"

When I think of the state of our movement in Washington ... it reminds me of a story:

There was this construction worker, Mac, who'd bring his neatly and lovingly packed lunch to work each day. Mac would sit down with his buddies, open the brown paper sack and pull out a cheeseburger, chocolate cake and peanut butter cookies. Without fail, he'd look at his fellow workers and complain, "I can't believe it! A cheeseburger, cake and cookies again! How am I ever going to lose weight?!"

After about a month of hearing him complain about the burger, cake and cookies, one of his buddies finally said, "Come on Mac! If you're so concerned about your weight, just ask your wife to send you off with something different."

To which the Mac replied, "What you talkin' about? I pack my own lunch!"

Remind you of anybody we know?

The key question to remember is: who's in control here?

Congress might ask itself the same question. We control the spending and the process ... and we wonder how the things got to such a state?


And it's not like we haven't made important course corrections in many significant areas. There can be no diminishing those accomplishments.

Think about it, under Republican control:

We've dismantled and scattered the network of terrorists within our United States.

We've liberated nations from oppressive, murderous regimes and the American soldier has brought the promise of democracy and freedom to millions who have never known it.

We've cut taxes again and again.

President Bush has put the brakes on leftist, activist courts with his sound appointments, including two strict constructionist justices to the Supreme Court of the United States.

We've stopped the horror of partial-birth abortions.

But what of those other promises central to our nation's values and liberty? The promises that said, "We'll cut spending. We'll rein in big government. We'll restore ethics and honesty to government."

On these promises? All sizzle and no steak. The ship's galley just keeps sending up giant pu-pu platters of pork, platitudes, promises and never-ending pleas for patience to the passengers on the deck.

"We're working on it," Congress tells them. "But in the meantime, we've got to get re-elected so that we can get this ship back on course to cut spending, rein in big government, and restore ethics and honesty. We can't do it without a majority."

Former Majority Leader Dick Armey said it best, "we do the things we ought not do, so we can be reelected to do the things we ought to do and never get around to doing"

We are not, as a party, bereft of ideas - we are bereft of will -- the will to even consider ideas that might touch on the sacred cows of federal spending...

Too little discipline. Too many compromises. Too little resolve.

Americans have a right to be scratching their heads.

And for the past six years, we have had no excuse for the outrageous growth in the size and scope of government.

Six years is enough.

If we are still on the wrong course, it is because we choose to be-either because we truly do not see the urgency of course correction or we lack the will to bring it about.


And the American people get it. It's the politicians who don't.

The American people see a disconnect between what we've been saying and what we've been doing.

Far too many of those things we said we'd do if we got control remain undone.

There is no escaping the fact that many of the things we have done look more like the work of a Democrat majority. Like:

l The first new entitlement in 40 years;
l National testing and a 50 percent increase in the federal department of education;
l Record deficits, and;
l An $8 trillion national debt

Not to mention a pork barrel culture that saw more than 15,000 earmarks, including public funding for an indoor rainforest in Iowa, a weather center for Punxsutawney Phil, the groundhog, and, of course, a Bridge to Nowhere.

Our ship is running out of fuel, our crew is running out of patience, and we are running out of time.

Every day, we sail further into the dangerous waters of Big Government Republicanism ... perilous straits for a society built on personal responsibility and freedom. We risk finding ourselves past the point of no return on the Road to Serfdom.

If we must look over our shoulder to see that shining city on a hill, we are sailing in the wrong direction.
And I know some of you want to abandon ship, head for the lifeboats and let the ship hit the unforgiving reef of the midterm elections.

But anyone who thinks that a Democrat Congress would do any better has (as we say in Indiana) "another think comin!"

In my five years in Congress, despite all their talk about deficits and the national debt, I have never seen the Democrats bring a bill to the floor that wasn't a lot bigger and a lot more intrusive than what we Republicans were selling.

So the answer is not mutiny.

It's not time to abandon ship.

It's time for a major course correction!

We need to stop, set anchor, and reset our heading based on what we know to be true about the nature of government:

Conservatives know:
l That government that governs least, governs best;
l That as government expands, freedom contracts;
l That government should never do for a man what he can and should do for himself;
l That societies are judged by their treatment of the most vulnerable: the aged, the infirm, and the unborn.

But it's not enough to know these truths. We need to choose to put them into practice.

Therefore, we have come to another time for choosing.

Our party and many of you -- its rising generation of new leaders face an age-old choice:

A choice between the belief in limited government and tradition -- and the siren song of the central planner, who says that big government is good government if it's our government.

The conservative movement is at a crossroads. Are we committed to the ideals of limited government, fiscal discipline and traditional moral values or not?

If we are, we must act accordingly. It is why voters gave us a governing majority.

And make no mistake about it -- the time for choosing is at the crossroads.

We once walked the path with heads held high -- with energy, hope and determination.

Remember when America walked it together? Twenty-five years ago, when another son of the heartland came east with the ideals of our founders, we walked into our future of liberty, prosperity, security, and values.

It is as if Ronald Reagan's 1975 address to CPAC was meant for us today. He said, "A political party cannot be all things to all people. It must represent certain fundamental beliefs which must not be compromised to political expediency, or simply to swell its numbers."

He said in that speech over 30 years ago, "I do not believe I have proposed anything that is contrary to what has been considered Republican principle. It is at the same time the very basis of conservatism. It is time to reassert that principle and raise it to full view. And if there are those who cannot subscribe to these principles, then let them go their way."

President Reagan described the path that led to morning, the shining city on the hill and a national majority.

And it will still lead us there.

We will find our way to Morning in America. But first, we must go back to the future-back to doing the hard thing because it's the right thing

And there are signs that we are doing just that ... signs that our party is beginning to rekindle our commitment to limited government and reform.

Let me tell you how:

2005 will be remembered as a year of good intentions, bad disasters and promises kept. Congress, early last year, adopted the toughest budget since the Reagan years and under the leadership of the Appropriations Committee reported one bill after another on time and on budget.

And then came Katrina ... 90,000 square miles of our Gulf Coast destroyed and $60 billion appropriated in just six days.

Now back in Indiana, when a tree falls on your house...first you tend to the wounded, then you start the cleanup, then you sit down and figure out how you are going to pay for it ... but not in Washington D.C.!

After the storm, many in Congress thought that fiscal discipline was the last thing that Congress should be thinking about ... preferring to raise taxes or increase the national debt instead of making tough choices.

But not House conservatives.

Seeing that a catastrophe of nature could become a catastrophe of debt, dozens of conservative leaders in Congress challenged our colleagues to offset the cost of Hurricane Katrina with budget cuts. We called it "Operation Offset" ... And I will always believe that our efforts sparked a national debate that galvanized into fiscal discipline.

The American people wanted Washington to pay for Katrina with budget cuts, and Washington got the message.

In direct response to the call for cuts, Speaker Dennis Hastert unveiled a plan which would cut spending in every area of the federal budget.

And just last Wednesday, I joined the President at the White House as he signed the first Deficit Reduction Act since 1997, saving taxpayers nearly 40 billion dollars.

A real vote with real results.

Suddenly, we didn't just say the hard things, but for the first time in a long time we did them ... and it really wasn't even all that hard.

You see, the conventional wisdom - which is a Washington term; back in Indiana they use the term "excuse" - the conventional wisdom is that these things are just so complex, just so involved, that nothing can simply "just get done."

Yes, a lot of these issues are complex. Yes, they're involved. But so is electricity. You don't have to be Thomas Edison to turn out the light at night. Anyone with a lick of common sense and initiative can pull a plug.

And you don't have to be a genius to turn out the lights on big government or to pull the plug on wasteful government spending!

This is just a start -- a small step down the road toward fiscal discipline. But for Americans troubled by a rising tide of red ink here in Washington D.C., 2006 begins with reason for optimism, as this Congress begins to make tough choices in tough times to put our fiscal house in order.

There's also reason for optimism as we see this Congress rekindle our commitment to honest and open government in Washington DC

The headlines announcing one scandal after another have eroded public confidence in our commitment to government of the highest moral caliber.

I am here to tell you that even as we speak, Congress is preparing to fight for ethics reform, not because such scandals hurt our party, but because they hurt the nation. The Bible says "Righteousness exalts a nation," so the converse must also be true. The scandals, which have beset our national government in recent days have grieved the heart of the American people.

And while we must reform the rules, install more, tighten the process, understand this: such tinkering does not substitute for genuine restoration of honesty and integrity to our halls of leadership.

There is a legitimate role in deterrence.

But compelled ethics is an oxymoron and a poor substitute for real integrity.

True servants of the people do not need to be compelled to keep their hand out of the cookie jar.

For all others, we can only make it harder to play the system and easier to catch them.

But as we reform our rules of ethics, we will do so with the understanding that these are but symptoms of the core problem.

The real scandal in Washington D.C. is runaway government spending.

Fiscal integrity and moral integrity are inseparable issues. You can't complain about the sharks while you're holding a bucket of chum.

So it's not enough to change the way lobbyists spend their money. We must change the way Congress spends the people's money.

Only by marrying budget reform and ethical reform can we restore the confidence of the American people in the fiscal and moral integrity of our national government.

So on fiscal responsibility and reform, there are signs that our ship is turning.

And while fiscal and ethical renewal will not be easy, I'm puzzled by those who say it will take courage to make these changes.

Perhaps they confuse courage with will. It takes no courage to cast a vote or speak from the well of the House of Representatives. There are no grenade launchers or snipers in the visitors' balcony.

Let me tell you about courage. Twice I had the privilege of visiting Iraq with our brave American soldiers - men and women who chose to leave the comforts of their home, put their lives on hold and on the line, in the fight for liberty.

Sadly, there are faces I was never privileged to see. Men and women from my district whose hands I will never have the honor of shaking on this side of eternity.

Let me tell you about one of them.

Raymond White grew up in Elwood Indiana, a small town in my district. This red-headed Boy Scout "always had a smile on his face," was upbeat and a young man of faith ... he carried pocket-sized King James Bible everywhere he went and had what his folks called an "others first" attitude from early on.

Ray was still in his teens when our nation was attacked on 9-11.

As the nation watched in horror the images on TV, and as smoke billowed from the Twin Towers and the Pentagon, there came for this 6'4" Hoosier a personal time for choosing.

Ray told his father, "Dad, I have a higher calling, and I've got to go serve my country." He joined the Army, and was eventually deployed to Baghdad.

Ray did have a higher calling.

On November 12, 2004, there came for Ray another time for choosing. His convoy came under fire in an ambush. There was no time to think. No time to weigh options. In an instant, in a single moment of decision, Ray chose life. Not his own, but his friends'.

Instead of taking cover, he provided it for his fellow soldiers to evacuate to the trenches. He stood at the gun turret mounted on his Humvee and returned fire, fending off the assault until everyone was safe. His Dad, Hank described it this way, "In the final few moments of his life, the best of him came out. He had a job to do and he did it to the very bitter end."

Raymond White was 22 when the Lord called him home. Because of his heroism, there were no other casualties. "No greater love hath man than this, that he should lay down his life for his friends."

If it ever crosses my mind to think my job is hard ... when I'm tired and weary of the battle on Capitol Hill, this is what sets me straight.

Most of our men and women in the armed forces are less than half the age of most members of Congress, yet possessed of a timeless wisdom, strength, and commitment to freedom that shall survive to inspire generations.


They fight and die for the cause of liberty. Surely we can muster the will to cast a vote for it.

Their courage is not shaken by the whine of a bullet. Shall Republicans cower at the whine of liberal democrats or special interests?

Surely we can face mere objection and bureaucracy in the cause of liberty. I believe we can ... and I believe we will.

Plutarch said millennia ago, "The real destroyer of the liberties of the people, is he who spreads among them bounties, donations and benefits."

The destroyers of liberty, whether they are butchers and tyrants, or the false prophets of socialism, do not fall meekly. They cling to power as stubbornly as Saddam's statue clung to its base in the square of Baghdad.

But I am confident, for they are no match for the spirit of liberty, for the will of the American people, and the resolve of millions with their eye on True North. People like you, here at CPAC, the future of our country, whose passion for freedom strengthens our will to right the course of our party's wayward ship.

It is you who will steer our ship toward Morning in America and to that shining city on the hill.

If there were not cause for hope, you would not be here today. Each of you has chosen to stay and fight for this country's future, its course, and its place in history, as a defender of freedom and a beacon to all nations.

You have chosen to stand against the defeatists and the preachers of inevitability. Each of you is armed with unique strengths, talents and skills, but most of all, conviction -- the strength of knowing that our cause is just and our cause is right. And that the American cause is mankind's cause for it is in the hearts of all people to be free.

Thank you for your love of liberty, your love for this country and your evident love of our God who watches over this nation that He placed on these, our wilderness shores.

Our founders understood, "where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is Liberty."

Let us appeal to the Author and Finisher of our faith that He might grant us wisdom in the choices to come. And may He bless us with energy, optimism, hope and resolve as we once again set sail to a renewed era of limited government and liberty ... as we set sail to morning in America.

May God bless you and may God bless the United States of America.

Tim Chapman likes Pence for 2008

 

Tim Chapman from Townhall.com was interviewed by CNN at CPAC about the 2008 presidential race. He immediately told CNN about Mike Pence. Here are his comments about the report.



CNN's Bill Schneider was at CPAC this morning taking the political pulse of conservatives. He asked me a few questions, one of which was who was receiving good buzz amongst conservatives these days. I immediately began telling him about Rep. Mike Pence, leader of the conservative Republican Study Committee. He used the clip in a segment about potential 2008 candidates.

While I think Pence would be a better candidate than any mentioned so far, I do not think he plans to run. But I am glad Schneider threw it in his report anyway! Maybe a little Pence buzz will give the "Draft Pence" movement here at CPAC some legs.

Pence for President!...sort of...

CNN film clip

Remembering Reagan

 

Today is Ronald Reagan's birthday. Our nation's greatest American has passed on but his ideas have not died. They are alive and well in many of us who have the courage to defend our liberties and freedom. Mike Pence is continuing the Reagan Revolution and carrying the Reagan mantle for 2008. Here are his comments about the late 40th president.

Ronald Reagan will be remembered as a great man and a great American leader who personified and advanced the highest ideals of the American people at home and abroad.

After eight years of his presidency, the communism of Soviet Russia was collapsing, the American military was rebuilt, the nation’s economy restored and its moral fabric renewed. As he said, himself, President Reagan left America "more prosperous, more secure, and happier than it was eight years" earlier.

Many will remember him as the "Great Communicator".

But as the President said many times, he wasn't a great communicator, he communicated great things. Those were the traditional American values of this Midwesterner turned national leader. They came from the profound Christian faith inculcated into a young Dutch Reagan by his beloved mother Nelle and from his heart. And, as the President said, "they came from the heart of a great nation."

Those ideas were simple, straightforward and distinctly American. President Reagan believed that freedom depended on limited government. He fiercely advanced the principles of less government, less taxes, a strong military and a commitment to traditional moral values.

And President Reagan changed the course of my life. While youthful ambition led me to politics, it was the voice and values of Ronald Reagan that made me a Republican. The Bible says, "if the trumpet does not sound a clear call, who will get ready for battle?"

Ronald Reagan’s gift was to sound a clear call to return our nation to the ideals of its founders. It was said that when the average American heard Reagan speak of those values, they didn’t just agree. From coffee shops to tractor seats to carpeted offices, when most Americans heard Reagan speak they said, "darn right!"

I met President Reagan in the summer of 1988.

I was a 29 year-old candidate for Congress and he was winding down a presidency that changed the world.

It was a Candidate photo op in the Blue Room of the White House.

I was determined to say something of meaning to the great man.

So I looked him square in the eye, I told him I just wanted to "thank him for everything he had done for the country and everything he had done to inspire my generation to believe in America again".

He seemed surprised, his cheeks appeared to redden with embarrassment and he said, "Well, mike, that’s a very nice thing of you to say"

Moments later in the Ballroom he took a minute to respond to my and others accolades with characteristic humility optimism saying,

"Many of you have thanked me for what I did for America but I want you to know I don’t think I did anything for this country-the American people decided it was time to right the ship and I was just the captain they put on the bridge when they did it"

In the midst of his extraordinary gifts, Ronald Reagan was a deeply humble man who believed in God and the American people with an unshakable faith.

In his Farewell Address to the nation, President Reagan spoke poignantly of the distance that high office can place between the servant and the served. He said, "One of the things about the presidency is that you're always somewhat apart. You spend a lot of time going by too fast in a car someone else is driving, and seeing the people through tinted glass - the parents holding up a child, and the wave you saw too late and couldn't return. And so many times I wanted to stop and reach out from behind the glass, and connect."

Well, permit me to say with affection-You did, Mr. President. And the free world, America and my small life are better for it.

And so, good-bye Mr. President. God bless you, as, through you, God blessed the United States of America.

Pence a lock in for 2006

 

Yesterday, Mike Pence announced his bid for re-election in 2006. While Pence is constantly in the community talking to residents, Pence never forgets where he comes from. Here is an article discussing his campaign and his character as he looks to further the conservative cause in the 6th district.


MUNCIE -- Republican Congressman Mike Pence says his 2006 re-election bid will be "a referendum on my record."

That record includes supporting President Bush in going to war with Iraq and making recent income tax cuts permanent, while opposing the president's Medicare prescription drug benefit that passed Congress last year.

Some, including Pence, anticipate 2006 could be a difficult year for House Republicans, with an increasingly unpopular war, Bush's sagging popularity ratings and congressional campaign finance scandals.

Pence filed for re-election Friday, seeking a fourth term representing the 6th congressional district, which includes 19 counties in eastern Indiana.

The Republican also made stops at Yorktown High School and Ball State University and spoke at basketball games Friday night in Anderson and Frankton.

That type of grassroots campaigning has been a staple of Pence's previous races, and it gives the incumbent a forum to tell the people where he stands on the issues.

Pence believes his support for winning the Iraq war and making tax cuts permanent represent the majority view of eastern Indiana residents.

He has already raised more than $750,000 for this year's race, and he had $579,475 in cash on hand on Dec. 31.

Pence's national stature has grown in the past two years since becoming chairman of the House Republican Study Committee, which includes more than 100 conservative House members. He easily won his last two re-election bids, collecting more than 60 percent of the vote.

Barry Welsh, a Methodist minister from Laurel seeking the Democratic nomination to the 6th district seat, disagrees with Pence over the war and believes people are upset over continuing military casualties. He is conducting his own grassroots effort, saying a gradual withdrawal of troops should begin.

At recent stops in Winchester and Muncie, Welsh talked about issues closer to home.

"The number of citizens in poverty is growing," Welsh said, noting more than 17,000 people had dropped below the poverty level since 2000, according to census figures. The Democrat pledged to raise the minimum wage and bring more jobs to eastern Indiana.

With political observers considering Pence a virtual lock to win re-election, Welsh's campaign has received little attention -- or assistance -- from the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.

The Democratic hopeful believes ongoing campaign finance scandals in Congress will help topple the Republican majority, in charge since 1994.

However, Pence never received any money from Washington, D.C., lobbyist Jack Abramoff, who pleaded guilty to federal charges of conspiracy, mail fraud and tax evasion. And the campaign contribution Pence accepted from a national political action committee operated by former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay was legally raised and spent.

Pence calls re-election 'referendum on record'

Pence looking forward to working with majority leader

 

Rep. Mike Pence, in a statement, said that he looks forward to working with Boehner to advance the Republican agenda of limited government, fiscal discipline and traditional moral values during the balance of the 109th Congress."

Let's all come together

A reason for optimism

 

Last night the House passed the Deficit Reduction Act that calls for cuts in spending. This is a very good first step as we look to put our fiscal house in order. Below is an article from Townhall.com talking about the victory of Mike Pence and the House conservatives.


Lost amidst all the hubbub about the GOP leadership elections was yesterday's House passage of the Deficit Reduction Act. The savings measure cuts the rate of growth in entitlement spending by saving nearly $40 billion over the next five years. Not one single Democrat voted for the fiscally responsible attempt to trim back ballooning entitilements.

Democrats, undoubtedly will try to use the legislation as a political rally cry come the November elections. They will charge that the GOP cuts programs for poor people and the elderly, all the while offering no solution to the fiscal disaster we are headed for.

It's important to put this in perspective. The Deficit Reduction Act will cut only .3 percent of federal spending over the next five years...0.3 percent!

The Democrats won't like this, but more is needed if we are to steer the federal government back towards fiscal responsibility.

House GOP'ers who voted for this bill deserve to be commended for casting a tough vote in an election year. They did the responsible thing, not the politically expedient thing - giving conservatives reason to be hopeful. On the floor of the House Mike Pence said, "2006 begins with reason for optimism as this Congress demonstrates the ability to make tough choices in tough times to put our fiscal house in order."

Let's hope that optimism is not short lived in what is sure to be a nasty election year.

A good first step

State of the Union

 

Last night's State of the Union set a good tone for what to see this year from the GOP. Below is an article discussing Mike Pence and his thoughts on the speech.


MUNCIE -- There's no higher priority than winning the war at home and abroad, according to Republican Congressman Mike Pence.

"The President spoke with confidence about the war on terror," Pence said about President Bush's State of the Union Address on Tuesday.

Pence saw the address as one of President Bush's most important speeches before a new Congress is elected this fall, and while he tries to win back the confidence of American citizens about the ability to win the Iraq war.

Several issues close to Republican conservatives were raised in the speech, including proposals to make federal tax cuts permanent and cut the federal deficit.

"People in eastern Indiana are troubled about the rising tide of red ink," Pence said. "We need to change the way we are spending the people's money."

Economic growth and expansion last year slowed in the fourth quarter, and Pence said it was not time to retreat from current economic policies.

"I expected the President would make a case for renewing tax cuts," he said.

Pence said he also supported President Bush's push for healthcare reforms, including providing tax-free health savings accounts.

"The rising cost of health insurance for small-business employers is a crisis," he said. "There are solutions that have to be built on free market competition."

Pence, Bayh weigh in on war, taxes, energy