I'm worried about that man or woman sitting around - the coffee table tonight or in their kitchen talking about how are we going to get to work. How are we going to have the dignity to take care of our family.
— Rick Perry
I mean, Dodd-Frank is strangling small community banks. It doesn't make any difference what the interest rate is. They're not - they're not going to loan the money because they can't make any money for one thing plus the cost of compliance.
Somebody has to tell the E.P.A. that we don't need you monkeying around and fiddling around and getting in our business with every kind of regulation you can dream up. You're doing nothing more than killing jobs. It's a cemetery for jobs at the E.P.A.
When it comes to conservative social issues, it saddens me when sometimes my fellow Republicans duck and cover in the face of pressure from the left. Our loudest opponents on the left are never going to like us so let's quit trying to curry favor with them.
Washington's insatiable desire to spend our children's inheritance on failed stimulus plans and other misguided economic theories have given record debt and left us with far too many unemployed.
But if you say that we should not educate children who have come into our state for no other reason than they've been brought there by no fault of their own, I don't think you have a heart. We need to be educating these children, because they will become a drag on our society.
You see, as Americans we're not defined by class, and we will never be told our place. What makes our nation exceptional is that anyone, from any background, can climb the highest of heights.
I am also the product of a place called Paint Creek. Doesn't have a zip code. It's too small to be called a town along the rolling plains of Texas. We grew dryland cotton and wheat, and when I wasn't farming or attending Paint Creek Rural School, I was generally over at Troop 48 working on my Eagle Scout award.
Conservatives are winning offices, and champions of big government are cleaning out their desks right now.
There's places where a secure fence will work, and that strategic type fencing will work. But the idea that people can easily just stand up and say 'let's just build a fence' and be done with it and wipe our hands, and it's going to secure the border, that's not reality.
When the good lord calls you home, the government ought not come get your home.
Our party cannot be all things to all people. It can't be. Our loudest opponents on the left are never going to like us so let's stop trying to curry favor with them.
We've got the wind at our back right now. Americans are waking up to the realities of their previous choices. We must keep America moving back to preeminence because our values and conservative ideas are the world's greatest hope.
I stand before you today as a disciplined conservative Texan, a committed Republican and a proud American, united with you to restoring our nation and revive the American dream.
Those jobs flee other states because of factors like excessive taxation, punitive regulation and frivolous lawsuits.
Obama is a president, who I think is anti-jobs.
Scouting ought to be about building character, not about sex. Period. Precious few parents enroll their boys in the Scouts to get a crash course in sexual orientation.
You got to have a courageous president to stand up and says, listen, if - if you send a bill to me that spends more money than what we've coming in, I'll veto it. I mean, I'm going to try to work with you the best I can, but I'm going to veto it.
I'm all about job creation. That's what I've done for ten years as the governor of Texas, and that's what I'm focused on.
I hope I am the Tim Tebow of the Iowa caucuses.
Let's stop this American downward spiral.
As Americans, we realize that there is no taxpayer money that wasn't first earned through the sweat and toil of one of our citizens.
I supported Arizona's immigration law by joining in that lawsuit to defend it. Every day I have Texans on that border that are doing their job.
Page one of any economic plan to get America working is to give a pink slip to the current resident in the White House.
America needs jobs, smaller government, less spending and a president with the courage to offer more than yet another speech.
Our citizens are tired of big government raising their taxes and cooking up new ways to micromanage their lives, our citizens are tired of big government killing jobs with their do-gooder policies. In short the people are Fed Up!
I disagree with the concept that somehow or another we're going to pack up 10, to 12, to 15 million people and ship them back to the country of origin. That's not going to happen.
I think Barack Obama is a socialist. I think he cares for his country - don't get me wrong about that - but I think he truly misunderstands what this country was based upon, the values that America was based upon, which was free enterprise and having the ability to risk your capital and having a chance to have a return on your investment.
Our shared conservative values, our belief in the individual is the great hope of our nation.
Our goal is to displace the entrenched powers in Washington, restore the rightful balance between the state and federal government.
To make sure that votes are never canceled out by illegal votes, we instituted a photo ID requirement. And don't you think it's fair to apply at least the same standard required to get a library card or to board an airpane?
Let's stand up. Let's speak with pride about our morals and our values and redouble our effort to elect more conservative Republicans.
My hope is that that person will come forward that can win the presidency that we can all get behind.
We can't have deficit spending in Texas. You have to balance your budget every two years.
My deal is have a flat, simple tax. And - Americans want - Americans I hope - aspire to be - be wealthy. I hope they aspire to have a better quality of life. And we have this class warfare that's going on now. And I don't agree with that. I'm interested in people getting to work.
Obamacare has got everyone on edge. I mean, small business - men and women or big business are sitting out there saying we have no idea what this is going to cost, but we know it's going to cost us and cost us a lot.
I want you to answer this question: Why should you settle for anything less than an authentic conservative who will fight for your views and values without an apology? Think about that.
America's greatness is not found in the size of its government. America's greatness resides in the hearts and the minds of the people.
As Americans, we don't see the role of government as guaranteeing outcomes, but allowing free men and women to flourish based on their own vision, their hard work and their personal responsibility.
But it wasn't until I graduated from Texas A & M University and joined the United States Air Force, flying C-130's all around the globe, that I truly appreciated the blessings of freedom.
What I learned growing up on the farm was a way of life that was centered on hard work, and on faith and on thrift. Those values have stuck with me my whole life.
President Obama's call for nearly a half-trillion dollars in more government stimulus when America has more than $14 trillion in debt is guided by his mistaken belief that we can spend our way to prosperity.
We want taxpayers, not tax wasters.
If you're looking for a slick politician or a guy with great teleprompter skills, we already have that. He's destroying our economy. I'm a doer, not a talker.
It is time to change our policy of appeasement toward the Palestinians, to strengthen our ties with the nation of Israel.
The Obama administration is an affront to every freedom-loving American, and a threat to every private sector job in this country.
This administration in Washington that's in power now clearly believes that government is not only the answer to every need, but it's the most qualified to make the most central decisions for every American in every area.
You know, to preserve our job-friendly climate the Texas legislature didn't raise taxes this last legislative session while balancing their budget and maintaining their reserves - and might I add that our budget leaves $6 billion dollars in a rainy day fund?
We need to stop apologizing for celebrating life. We need to stop apologizing for wanting to protect an individual's right to build a business.
The people who illegally cross into the country are from countries that have very close ties to al Qaeda, whether it's Yemen or Afghanistan, Pakistan, China. It is an absolute national disgrace.
