Mitt Romney:     Wow, what a group.  Wow.  Extraordinary, hey guys.  Hey, the conservative movement is alive and well, let me tell you right here.  Thank you so much. Well, once again, the people you didn’t know were coming were even more excited than the ones you did know were coming.  We’ve got a vice-president Scott Brown here.  Thank you so much, please. Jay is brilliant.  I’ve got to have him go with me everywhere.  And Scott Brown, boy, I’d take him anywhere I can take him.  I, I want to thank those guys for generous introductions.  They are national heroes and real treasures for our country.  And, of course, both of them have made real contributions to our nation, one in defending the Constitution and the other in making sure we keep it strong and well for the years to come.

It’s, it’s good to be back with you.  I love coming to CPAC.  It’s a great audience and I frankly can’t think of anyplace I’d rather be than getting to be with you guys and to talk about the things we believe in.  I, I did have a great weekend however.  I spent, I spent the weekend in Vancouver.  At the Olympic Games.  A few Canadians, yeah.  And, as always, the, the games were very inspiring.  But by the way, you probably, you probably didn’t hear the news this morning, late breaking that the gold medal won last night by American Lindsey Vonn has been stripped.  Yeah, it was determined that President Obama had been going downhill faster than she has. Now, I’m, I’m not telling, I’m not telling anything to you that you don’t already know.

Our conservative movement took a real hit in the 2008 elections.  The, the victors were not exactly gracious in their big win.  The media, as you recall, had their legs chain-linked.  Time Magazine had a, a cover which pictured the republican elephant and declared that we were an endangered species.  The new president himself promised a change of biblical proportions and, and, of course, given the filibuster through senate he got and the lopsided house vote, he had everything that he needed to deliver that.  They won, we lost.  But, you know, you learn a lot about people when you see how they react to losing.  We, we didn’t serve up excuses or blame our fellow citizens.  Instead we listened carefully to the American people.  We sharpened our thinking and our, our arguments.  We, we spoke with greater persuasiveness.  We took our message to journals and, and airways across the country and in the great American tradition, some even brought attention to our cause with rallies and tea parties.

I know that we’ve all watched very intently as the conservative comeback began in Virginia and then exploded onto the scene in New Jersey and- But as a Massachusetts man, who like my fellow Bay Staters have over the years been understandably regarded somewhat suspiciously at gatherings like this, let me take just a moment to exalt in the victory of Scott Brown. For that victory, by the way, it stopped Obama-care and turned back the pre‑Pelosi/Obama liberal tie.  We have something to say that you’d never think you’d hear at CPAC.  Thank you, Massachusetts. So 2009 was the president’s turn to suffer losses and not just in the ballot box, but also in bill after bill in congress.  And most importantly, in his failure to recognize that the economy needed to be reignited in a powerful, effective way.  And that also, as with us, how he has responded to his defeats tells us a great deal about him and his team.  Now, as you recall, he began by saying that he hadn’t failed at all.  If you remember, he gave himself that eight months for his first year out.  Tell that to the four million Americans who lost their jobs last year and, and to the millions more who stopped looking for work.  Explain that to the financial markets worldwide, the gaped at trillion dollar deficits as far as the eye could see.  Square that with the absence of any meaningful sanctions against Iran, even as it races to become a nuclear power and of course it continues to fund terror. President Obama’s self-proclaimed B‑plus will go down in history as the biggest exaggeration since Al Gore’s invention of the Internet.

So unable to convince us that his failure was actually a success, he turned to the second dodge of a losing team:   try to pin the blame on some else.  Did you happen to see his state of the union address?  Of course, first he took on the one group in the room that was restrained from responding, the supreme court.  The president found it explicable that the First Amendment right of free speech should be granted not just to labor union corporations and media corporations but equally to all corporations, big, medium and small.  Of course, when it was over, I think most Americans felt as I did, his noisy critique and bombasts did not register as clear and as convincingly as Justice Alito’s silently forming these words, “Not true.”

Next, of course, he blamed the republicans in the room, first condescending to lecture us on the workings of the budget process, a process many of them in that room had, in fact, mastered while he was still at Harvard Law School.  He, he went on to blame republicans for the gridlock that has blocked his favorite legislation.  Of course he knows as well as everybody in the country does that not one single solitary republican vote in either house is required to pass his legislation or was not until that guy just got elected.  It was in fact democrats who blocked him, democrats, democrats who said no to his liberal agenda after they’d been home to their districts and worked with the American people.  As Everett Durston used to say long ago, “When they felt the heat, they saw the light.”  God bless every American who said no.

Of course the president accuses us of being the party of no.  It’s as if he thinks that by saying no, it’s by definition a bad thing.  In fact, as you know, it’s right and praiseworthy to say no to bad things.  It’s right to say no to CAPA trade, no to Card Check, no to government healthcare, no to higher taxes.  I –My party, our party can never be a rubber stamp for rubber-stamp spending.  But before we move away from this no epithet that the democrats are fond of trying to apply to us, let’s ask the Obama folks why they say no, no to a balanced budget, no to reforming entitlements, no to malpractice reform, no to missile defense in eastern Europe, no to prosecuting Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and the military tribunal – no to tax cuts, creating jobs.  You see, you see, we conservatives don’t have a corner on saying no.  We’re just the ones who say it when it’s the right thing to say.

And of course, that leads us to the movement he has most recently charged with being culpable for his failures, the American people.  It seems that we have failed to understand his wise plans for us.  If he just slows down, he reasons, and makes a concerted effort to explain Obama-care and in words we can understand, if we just listen better, then we’ll get it.  Actually Americans have been listening quite attentively and they’ve been watching when he barred C‑SPAN from covering the healthcare deliberations.  They saw President Obama break his promise to transparency.  When the democrat leadership was empowered to bribe Nebraska’s Senator Nelson, they saw President Obama break his promise there’s a new kind of politics in Washington.  And when he cut a special and certainly unconstitutional deal with the unions, they saw him not just break his promise, they saw the most flagrant and reprehensible manifestation of political payoff in modern memory. Oh, Mr. President, the American people didn’t hear and see too little; they saw too much.  Here again, with all due respect, President Obama fails to understand America.  He said, and I quote, “With all the lobbying and horse trading, the process left most Americans wondering, what’s in it for me,” end of quote.  That’s not all that they’re asking.  They’re asking, “What’s in it for America?”  America will not endure government-run healthcare, a new and expensive entitlement and inexplicable and surely vanishing cuts in Medicare and an even greater burden on taxes.  That’s why America said no, because Obama-care is bad care for America.

Now, when it comes to shifting responsibility for failure, however, no one’s been a more frequent object of President Obama’s reproach than President Bush.  It’s, it’s wearing so thin that it’s a regular joke on late night TV.  I, I’m convinced that history will judge President Bush far more kindly. You’ll, you’ll recall he pulled us from a very severe and deepening recession after 911.  He, he overcame the teachers’ unions to make sure that we can test our kids to see how well they’re doing and evaluate schools that were underperforming.  He took down the Taliban in Afghanistan and he, he waged a war against the Jihadists and was not afraid, by the way, to call it what it was, a war. And he kept us safe and – I, I respect his silence even in the face of the assaults on his record that come from this administration.  But at the same time I also respect the loyalty and indefatigable defense of truth that comes from our I‑don’t-a‑damn Vice President Dick Cheney. I’m, I’m afraid that after all the, the finger-pointing is finished, it has become clear who’s responsible for President Obama’s lost year, the 10 percent unemployment year:  President Obama and his fellow democrats.  So when it comes to pinning blame, pin the tail on the donkeys.

Now there’s been a good deal of conjecture about the cause of President Obama’s failures.  As he frequently reminds us, he, he assumed the presidency at a difficult time.  That’s the reason, by the way, that we argued during the campaign that these were not times for on‑the‑job training. Had, had he or his advisors even spent a few years in the real economy, they would have learned that the No. 1 cause of failure of small and large businesses in the private sector is lack of focus and that the first rule of turning around any troubled enterprise is to focus, focus, focus.  And so when he assumed the presidency, his energy should have been focused on fixing the economy, creating jobs, succeeding in our fight against the radical and violent Jihad and Afghanistan and Iraq and keeping us safe.  Instead he applied his time and his political capital to his ill‑conceived takeover of healthcare and building his personal popularity in foreign countries.  He, he failed to focus and so he failed.

But there was an even bigger problem than just his lack of focus.  Ronald Reagan used to say something about like this about liberals, “It’s not that they’re ignorant, it’s just that what they know is wrong.” And, and, and too often when it came to President Obama’s agenda, what he knew was wrong.  Now, he did correctly the other day say something that, that rang true.  He, he acknowledged that government doesn’t create jobs, that only the private sector can do that in a lasting way.  He said, however, that government, correctly, government can create the conditions, the environment which leads the private sector to add employment.  But then consider not just what he said but what he did in the last year and ask yourself, “Did it help or hurt the environment for investment and growth and job creation?”  Announcing a 2011 tax increase for individuals in business as in capital gains hurt.  Passing cap and trade hurt.  Giving trial lawyers a free pass hurt.  Opposing Card Check to eliminate secret ballots in union elections hurt.  Holding onto GM stock and insisting on calling the shots there hurt.  Making a grant for healthcare almost one‑fifth of our economy hurt.  Budgeting government deficits in the trillions hurt.  And scapegoating and demonizing businesspeople hurt.  President Obama instituted the most anti-growth, anti-investment, anti-jobs measures we’ve seen in our lifetimes.  Now, he called his agenda ambitious.  I call it reckless.  He scared employers so jobs were scarce.  His nearly trillion dollar symbol has created not one new job in the private sector, but has saved the good jobs in the government sector, the one place where he should have shed jobs.  And even today, you know, because he’s been unwilling or unable to define the road ahead, uncertainty and lack of predictability permeate the private economy and prolongs the stall.  America is not better off than it was $1.8 trillion ago. And will the economy and unemployment recover? Of course.  Thanks to the vibrant and innovative citizenry of America.  They always do.  But this president will not deserve credit that he will undoubtedly claim.  He has prolonged the recession, expanded the pain of unemployment and added to the burden of debt we’re going to be leaving our future generations because of it.  President Obama, Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reed and their team have failed the American people and that’s why their majority will soon be out the door.  Isn’t it fitting, isn’t it fitting that so many of those who have contempt for the private sector will soon find themselves back in it.

The people, people of America are looking to conservatives for leadership and we can’t fail them.  Conservatism has had from its inception vigorously positive, intellectually rigorous agenda and thinking.  That agenda should have, mind you, three pillars:  strength in the economy, strength in our security and strength in our families.  We will strengthen our economy by simply, by simplifying and lowering taxes, but by replacing outmoded regulation with modern up‑to‑date dynamic regulation, by opening markets to American goods, by, by strengthening our currency and, and our capital markets and by investing in basic science and research.  Instead of leading the world in how much we borrow, it’s time that we make sure we lead the world in how much we build and create and invest. We will strengthen our security by building missile defense, restoring our military might and standing by and strengthening our intelligence officers.  Conservatives believe in providing constitutional rights to our citizens, not to enemy combatants like Khalid Sheikh Mohammed. Not on our watch.  A conversation with a would-be suicide bomber will not begin with the words, “You have the right to remain silent.” Our, our conservative agenda strengthens our family in part by, by putting our schools on track to be the best in the world again, because great schools start with great teachers.  We’ll insist on hiring teachers from the top third college graduates and we’ll give better teachers better pay.  School accountability, school choice, cyber schools will be priorities and we’ll put parents and teachers back in charge of education, not fat‑cat CEOs of the teachers’ unions. Strong families have excellent healthcare.  Getting healthcare coverage for the uninsured should be accomplished at the state level, not a one‑size-fits-all Pelosi plan. And, and the right way to rein in healthcare cost and this is the, this is the toughest issue, but the right way to rein in healthcare cost is not by applying more government and more controls and making it more like a post office.  It is by making it more like a consumer-driven market.  The answer for healthcare is market incentives, not healthcare by a Godzilla-sized government bureaucracy. Now when it comes to our, our role in the world, our conservative agenda is fused to the principles that have defined our nation’s foreign policy for well over six decades.  We will promote and defend the American ideals of political freedom, a free enterprise and human rights.  We will stand with our allies and confront those who threaten peace and destroy liberty.  That’s what America is. Of course, there’s, there’s much more in our positive, intellectually rigorous conservative agenda.  Not all of it’s popular.  But the American people have shown that they’re ready for truth, excuse me, for truths to trump hope.  The truth is that government is not the solution to all our problems.

The – a little plug here.  This year I’m taking some time out to, to write a book about the truth of the challenges that the nation faces and about the solutions I believe we need to overcome them.  I’ve titled it No Apology, The Case for American Greatness. I, I’m told that my friends have set up a booth outside, so you can each buy a couple hundred copies.  Make it one or two.  You know, most seriously, sometimes I, I wonder whether Washington’s liberal politicians truly understand the greatness that is America.  Let me explain why I say that.  I was, at Christmastime I was shopping at, at Wal‑Mart to buy some toys for my grandkids.  And as I waited in the checkout line, I, I happened to look around the store at those big signs, you know, with the yellow face, the big smile on it for low prices.  And I thought to myself of the impact of Sam Walton on that company.  I didn’t know him but I read stories about him.  He, he apparently was all about good value to the consumer and making sure that they could buy anything in his store they might want.  And, you know what, so is Wal‑Mart, rock-bottom prices, tens of thousands of items.  It’s interesting that the impact of founders like Sam Walton have on their enterprises.  It’s really remarkable.  In many ways, Microsoft, for instance, is a reflection of its founder, Bill Gates.  Just like Apple is of the leader there, Steve Jobs.  Disneyland, you’ve probably been there, and to Disneyworld.  It’s, it’s a physical tribute, mind you, of  Walt Disney itself, imaginative, whimsical.  Virgin Airlines, it’s as irreverent and edgy as its founder.  You know, as you look around you, you, you’ll see that people shape enterprises, businesses, charities, movements of all kinds, sometimes for many years.  Even after they’re gone, people shape enterprises.  People shape businesses.

People shape countries.  America reflects the values of the people who first landed here, those who founded the nation, those who won our freedom, those who made America the leader of the world.  America was discovered and settled by pioneers.  Later the, the founders themselves watched an entirely new concept of nation, one where the people would be sovereign, not the king, not the state.  And this wouldn’t apply just to government, but also to our economy.  The individual would pursue his or her own happiness in freedom, independent from government dictate.  Every American was therefore free to be an inventor, an innovator, an entrepreneur, a founder.  America, by that choice, became the land of opportunity and a nation of pioneers.  We attracted people of pioneering spirit from all over the world.  They came here for freedom and opportunity, knowing in some cases that the cost would be incredibly high, leaving behind family, learning a new language.  They’re often living in, in poverty at first, sometimes even facing prejudice, working long hours, hard hours.  All of these pioneers built a nation of incomparable prosperity and unrivaled security.  Now after our founding, the nation’s economy grew thanks to more pioneers, people like Alexander Graham Bell and Thomas Edison, Henry Ford, William Proctor, Robert Johnson, Bill Hewlett, Dave Packard and so forth.  These are some of the names we know.  But there are a lot more names that are just as vital to America that we don’t know.  And those number in the millions.  They created this country.  That American pioneering spirit is what propelled us to master the industrial age just as today we, we marshal the information age.  That course chosen for America, chosen by the founders, has been settled for over 200 years.  Ours is the creation of the pioneers, the innovators, the entrepreneurs, the strivers who expect no guarantee for success, but ask only to live and work in freedom.

That creed is under assault in Washington today.  Liberals are convinced that government knows better than the people how to run our businesses, how to choose winning technologies, how to manage healthcare, how to grow an economy and how to order our very lives.  They want to gain through government takeover what they could never achieve in the competitive economy, power and control over the American people.  If these liberal neo‑monarchists succeed, they would kill the very spirit that has built the nation, the innovating, inventing, creating independent current that runs from coast to coast and we won’t let them do it. That’s the liberal agenda for government.  It doesn’t encourage pioneers and inventors and investors; it suffocates them.  It is a world where others have lost their liberty by trading it away for the false promises of big government.

We choose to hold to our founding principles.  We will stop these power-seekers where they stand.  We will keep America America by repeating its character as the land of opportunity.  We’ll welcome the inventor, the entrepreneur, the innovator.  We’ll insist on greatness from every one of our citizens and rather than apologizing for who we are or for what we’ve accomplished, we will celebrate our nation’s strength and goodness.  American patriots have defeated terrorists, liberated the oppressed and rescued the afflicted.  America’s model of innovation, capitalism and free enterprise has lifted literally billions of the world’s people out of poverty.  America has been a force for good like no other in the world and for that we make no apology.  Thank you.  God bless America.  Thank you.

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