I don't think Obama will get re-elected.
— Jim DeMint
I'm a conservative first, and I believe that, if we do a better job of helping Americans understand what we're trying to do, to showcase every place in the country that our ideas are working at the state level, that that will help those at the federal level who want to carry those policies.
Forget the consultants, the pundits and the pollsters; good policy is good politics.
I'm humbled to follow in the footsteps of Ed Feulner, who built the most important conservative institution in the nation. He has been a friend and mentor for years and I am honored to carry on his legacy of fighting for freedom.
If we become too scared to confront the chief problems of our time, there is no hope of ever solving them.
I have no plans to run for president.
Compromise works well in this world when you have shared goals.
I have been on shop floors. I have talked to a lot of the companies that create jobs in South Carolina and across the country. And what they want is less regulation.
We have this kind of revolving door, we don't have a permanent class of millionaires in America like a lot of other countries.
Anyone who says the Republicans have been irresponsible aren't looking at the facts.
You could accuse Republicans of a lot of things, but you could never convict us of being too conservative!
I don't think we need to extend unemployment any further without paying for it, and without making some modifications such as turning it into a loan at some point. It then encourages people to go back to work.
The problem we've got now in Washington is that the goals are completely the opposite from each other.
Well, we lost a lot of our independence already. We are dependent on China for credit. We are dependent on Middle Eastern countries for energy supplies. And many Americans are dependent on the government for their income, health care, education of their children, food stamps.
Well, one of the most important things for Americans to be reminded of is that a lot of the exceptional nature of our country is founded in Judeo-Christian values that promotes individualism, personal responsibility, a strong work ethic, and a commitment to family, charity.
I think people are confused about what the Tea Party is. I mean, they were a broad cross-section of Americans who came together concerned about our debt and our spending. And they're interested in constitutional, limited government. And so they're not one group of people. They're thousands of small groups all over the country.
It has always been my plan not to serve more than two terms.
The message is pretty clear: Americans are sick and tired of the doubletalk coming out of Washington, of us going home and saying we're conservative and then coming up here and voting for 10,000 earmarks. We can't fool America anymore; the media is too good. They're reporting what we're really doing.
The Heritage Foundation is the premier think tank, research organization. The premier idea group for the conservative movement.
What we need is some people to stand up with the courage of their convictions, to do what they promised when they ran for election, and fight to stop Obamacare.
As more people rely on government programs, the harder it becomes to conduct the necessary reforms to preserve them to help our society's most vulnerable.
Well, purity - there's no purity in politics.
What happens in the Senate is the Republicans sink to the lowest common denominator.
American businesses and upper incomes pay a larger portion of the federal taxes of our national taxes than any country in the world.
I want to find the candidates who understand the principles of American exceptionalism and have the character, the courage, and the confidence to actually lead the greatest nation in the world.
If you remember you just have one constituent, and that's God himself, and if you try to please him I think you usually come with a lot steadier pace and a lot more peace in your life.
Something happens to me when someone says, 'You can't.' I'm generally not very competitive; unless someone tells me I can't do something that should be done.
I'd like to see a Republican Party that embraces a lot of the libertarian ideas.
The Democrats have essentially decided to move more toward central power, control of just about every aspect of our culture and economy.
I don't need to be asking for money for local museums and other projects just to make me look good back home.
The Tea Party doesn't like politicians.
I don't have many litmus tests, but this is one: Any candidate who doesn't understand that we need to balance the budget should not be president of the United States.
I know I was a businessman for years, and I stayed up countless nights worrying about having to let one person go. It's a terrible thing to do.
I just want people to know that if they want to change the direction of the country, they can do it, but only if they're active, informed, and engaged.
Frankly, if independents and Democrats want to work with us on conservative ideas, I can do that better at Heritage than as a partisan inside.
I've developed a lot of reform proposals myself and been accused of trying to destroy Social Security, when the whole point was to try to save it. I think most people know that Social Security is bankrupt.
Heritage will remain, first and foremost, a research institute dedicated to impeccable research and data-driven policy analysis.
First of all, no candidate is going to win by catering to the alleged Occupy Wall Street vote.
I'm never going to rule anything out in life, because most of what I'm doing now, I never intended to do.
Marriage is a religious and state issue.
It doesn't make sense to have to do the wrong thing in order to do the right thing.
I don't have the support inside Washington or even inside my own party.
Sometimes people credit me for the Tea Party. It's actually the other way around.
California is going to take themselves off the cliff culturally and economically, fiscally. They are going to be at the trough in Washington wanting a bailout.
The debate in the Republican Party needs to be between libertarians and conservatives.
You've got the Democratic Party that now depends on more government spending and actual building the dependence on government in order to increase their political party.
So, the point I'm making is, we are not going to cut spending in Washington if we think it's the job of every congressman and senator is to pave local parking lots and build local sewer plants. These parochial interests are getting in the way of the national interests.
From a policy standpoint, the Judeo-Christian principles are important.
I can tell you if you look at the polls, Democrats, Republicans, Independents, they do not think we should increase the debt limit.
I play the guitar a little bit.
