If one was looking for fiery, crowd pleasing, political rhetoric from former Speaker Newt Gingrich as he addressed CPAC today, they were likely disappointed. What Gingrich did do was run through a litany of policy solutions he claimed he has committed to implement immediately upon taking office in January of 2013.

Contrasting an America that can versus an America that can’t, Gingrich compared America’s speed and might in winning WWII versus her current inability to seal its own border. In a lighter moment, the former Speaker contrasted the efficiency of package tracking by Federal Express with the government’s inability to track illegal immigrants, suggesting sending each one a package may be the best way to apprehend the latter.

He also mentioned repealing Obamacare, Dodd Frank, and Sarbanes Oxley on his first day in office. He stated his desire to be a “paycheck president” versus a “food stamp president,” a term he used to denigrate Barack Obama.

Calling for a Fall campaign focused on substance, Gingrich also mentioned eliminating the Capital Gains tax and implementing 100% expensing for all new equipment written off in one year to help get the economy growing. Additionally, he called for a modernization of the workforce, proposing that unemployment compensation be linked to business training programs to avoid paying people for 99 weeks “for doing nothing.” (more…)

Today, outside CPAC’s annual meeting at Washington’s Marriott Wardman Park, union supporters and Occupy DC activists gathered to protest.

One lady wearing an Occupy DC lapel pin proudly displayed a sign stating “Walmart for President.”

Although given multiple opportunities to explain what her sign meant, she stumbled aimlessly for the right words, eventually stating, “I’m going to have to think about that.”

Meanwhile, the Daily Caller’s Michelle Fields reports that protestors were paid $60 each to demonstrate against CPAC: (more…)

Mitt Romney’s speech to CPAC today was largely a re-hash of his basically competent stump speech, with a few chunks of red meat awkwardly thrown in. There wasn’t much that was memorable, but there was this line–astounding in its sheer counterfactual chutzpah:

I was a conservative governor.  I fought against long odds in a deep blue state.  I understand the battles that we, as conservatives, must fight because I have been on the front lines. (Update: In the speech as delivered, Romney described himself as having been “severely conservative.”)

Few conservatives will buy that. Mitt Romney governed as a Republican who could reach across party lines, not as a conservative willing to sacrifice his position for his values. Hence RomneyCare, which adorns the desk (at right) in the Romney portrait in the Massachusetts Statehouse.

Romney cites his stances on social issues as evidence of his conservatism in office, but the fact is that the most important social change of his era–a court decision legalizing gay marriage in the state–was largely out of his hands. I suspect that Romney’s glib reference to his opposition to that decision–”we fought hard and prevented Massachusetts from becoming the Las Vegas of gay marriage”–will offend liberals without reassuring conservatives.

Romney could have owned up to the fact that he has departed considerably from conservative policy over the years, while stressing the key conservative principles upon which he has not yielded. But Romney went too far, claiming to be an across-the-board conservative, trying to be the “not-Romney” for whom many conservative voters still pine, rather than himself.

(more…)

CPAC should have been a triumphal moment for Rick Santorum. His sweep of election contests this week put a gale-force wind in his campaign’s sails. At this week’s “Wednesday Meeting” of center-right organizations and activists, hosted by Grover Norquist, there was palpable excitement about the results and Santorum’s prospects. CPAC attendees are a natural base for Santorum, who overall the other nominees has the more consistent, traditional conservative record. Talking to attendees, it was clear they wanted to believe in Santorum. Their hearts were with him, even if their minds were nagged by questions of his electability. Today’s speech was a tailor-made opportunity to put these fears to rest. He whiffed.

(more…)

Big Government’s Lee Stranahan and Brandon Darby, on the scene at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Washington, DC, report that 300-400 union members and Occupy activists have instigated clashes with police outside the conference venue at the Marriott Wardman Park Hotel.

(more…)

In an exclusive interview with an Occupy DC activist this morning from the McPherson Square encampment area, Big Government has learned that at high noon today,–hundreds of activists drawing from a collective of leftist coalitions including union support–will descend upon the Conservative Political Action Conference event taking place at the Woodley Park based Marriott Wardman hotel.

“It’s a coalition of different organizations including Occupy DC,” said James, an occupy protestor who joined the movement in late September from Orlando, Florida and emigrated to Occupy DC. “I think lots of organizations will be there too.”

James said the following of the Occupy CPAC plan:

The plan is for non-violent civil disobedience. We want to disrupt the conference and have our voices heard, have our message of the 99% against the 1% and have that voice take precedence. Things like CPAC have dog and pony shows, media circuses and it’s embarrassing. We’re supposed to be the most advanced democracy in the world and it’s embarrassing to have our political process look like a reality TV show.

(more…)

House Budget Chairman Paul Ryan (R-WI) previewed details of his upcoming keynote speech to be delivered Thursday evening at the CPAC conference in the Washington.  Ryan emphasized “Conservatives in 2012 Must Go Bold”, not only to win the general election in November but  to offer the country a path back to prosperity.

As Conservative leaders prepare for the nasty fight ahead to win the White House, Ryan offered an alternative solution other than focusing solely on President Obama’s failed policies.  He mentioned the American people need a “clear choice of two futures” through a very specific vision of restoration.

Ryan warns if Obama is re-elected a severe debt crisis would likely occur within the next two to three years and if Republicans prevail, they will have the chance to preempt that type of economic disaster.  He mentioned the worst case scenario would be our country becoming a complete “welfare state” due to Obama’s agenda and current track record.  The Chairman states, “At CPAC I’ll make the case for clarifying the choice facing the American people: our principled plan to restore the American Idea versus the President’s failed agenda of debt, doubt, and decline.”

(more…)

#Occupy goons riot in Oakland. (NY Post)

Obama’s #Occupy army threatened to disrupt and physically assault conservative speakers at the CPAC convention this week in Washington DC. Andrew Breitbart and Newt Gingrich are two conservatives who they will be targeting at the event.

Lachlan Markay at The Foundry reported:

The “Occupy DC” protest group is planning to disrupt the upcoming Conservative Political Action Conference using a range of potentially illegal tactics that could even include violence against participants, Scribe has learned.

The planned disruptions at CPAC come only days after U.S. Park Police raided Occupiers’ tent cities at McPherson Square and Freedom Plaza in Washington, D.C., confiscating a number of tents, and prohibiting Occupiers from camping out there any longer.

During a Thursday meeting at McPherson Square, until Saturday the epicenter of the protests, Occupiers brainstormed tactics for shutting down or disrupting the conference, according to a source who was present at the meeting.

The protesters suggested pulling fire alarms in the hotel where the conference will take place, screaming “fire” during conference activities, “glitter-bombing” participants, cutting electrical power, and barricading entrances to the hotel, according to the source, who requested anonymity.

(more…)

A quick note to people attending CPAC, Occupy DC is planning for mayhem.

Open meetings were held to discuss how the Occupy crowd could do their best to wreck the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) being held at the Marriott Wardman hotel in Washington, D.C from February 9-11.

The meetings began last Thursday and lasted until Saturday. During these meetings, protesters began throwing around ideas for confusion and chaos that include dressing like Ron Paul supporters since they “generally look like hippies”, pulling fire alarms, screaming ‘fire’ during activities, “glitter-bombing” participants, blocking entrances to the hotel, and cutting electrical power- as first reported by Lachlan Markay at the Heritage Foundation.

The person who obtained all the information said, “Speakers will be physically assaulted, not just verbally confronted.” Two Occupiers, who the informant also identified as members of the New Black Panther Party, “said they would be disappointed if they didn’t get arrested and planned to ‘make it count.’”

(more…)

Former Republican vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin has called for Gov. Mitt Romney to release his tax returns, as well as the data that could substantiate his claim of having created 100,000 jobs as CEO of Bain Capital.

Romney has resisted releasing his tax returns, and his campaign has thus far refused to provide the hard proof to back up his claims about Bain.

“Governor Romney has claimed to have created 100,000 jobs at Bain, and people are wanting to know: is there proof?” Palin told Sean Hannity on Fox News.

Rick Tyler, former Gingrich aide and head of Newt Gingrich’s Super PAC, has already accused Romney of having created those 100,000 jobs in Asia and Mexico. Earlier this week, Big Government pointed out that Romney’s claim to have created 100,000 jobs contrasts with claims he made during his 1994 U.S. Senate campaign, when he claimed to have created 10,000 jobs at Bain. Romney retired from Bain Capital in 1999.

Palin said that Romney needed to come clean about his record, given the likelihood that Democrats would probe the tax issue and Romney’s tenure at Bain if he were to become the Republican nominee.

The former Alaska governor also told Hannity that she did not think it was inevitable that Romney would become the Republican nominee.

“The majority has not yet coalesced around one,” she said, adding that conservatives were still searching for the right “free market, pro-military” candidate to back. (more…)

Obviously, the American Conservative Union (ACU) didn’t get the memo. After all, Governor Palin is irrelevant, donchaknow. At least that’s what the mainstream media told me, and the mainstream media never lies.

Was that the sound of Katie Couric’s head exploding I just heard … from the set of the old Geraldo show?

The other news is that this will be the Governor’s first ever appearance at the annual three-day DC gathering of thousands of grassroots conservatives from all over the country, and the timing couldn’t be better. ACU Chairman Al Cardenas sums up why perfectly in today’s announcement:

“Few national conservative leaders in America today energize and inspire our grassroots activists like Governor Sarah Palin. Her strong record of leadership, championing of our shared principles and magnetic personality have made Sarah Palin a hero to millions of conservatives across the country.”

It would be hard to argue that the Governor’s tireless championing of the Tea Party movement combined with her presence on the campaign trail didn’t have an energizing effect on the turnout that helped to deliver the GOP’s record gains in the crucial 2010 mid-terms. No one doubts that we’re going to need that energy again in 2012 — and then some. February 9 – 12 at CPAC is where so much will begin and Governor Palin is an excellent choice to close the conference and send the grassroots home fired up and ready to go to work.

(more…)

Four years ago, Mitt Romney was the last, best hope of the conservative movement as a surging John McCain looked set to clinch the Republican nomination. Romney’s concession speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) (parts a, b, and c) cemented his bond with the delegates, who understood their ideals were about to yield to the compromise politics of the moderate–and ostensibly more electable–McCain.

Today, Romney is considered the compromise candidate, regarded with suspicion by the conservative base as the emissary of the Republican establishment. That is not, as the left (and David Frum) alleges, because the party has become more “extreme.” Rather, it is because Barack Obama’s far-left agenda has produced a strong desire for new leadership that will aggressively oppose the dramatic growth in the size and cost of government.

The Obama agenda was a challenge the Republican Party seemed unprepared, unable, and–at times–unwilling to resist in early 2009. That is why the Tea Party emerged–first in response to the Obama “porkulus,” then ObamaCare. It could not reverse those policies right away, but after the 2010 elections it ensured Republicans would refuse to raise taxes to close the deficit, or to approve bailouts of profligate state governments.

For the Tea Party, the next goal is to repeal ObamaCare and to pass entitlement and spending reforms that ensure the financial stability of the U.S. government, without raising taxes that will constrain economic growth. In so doing, Tea Party conservatives hope to do more than restrain the expansion of government, but to also restore the robust vision of individual freedom that enabled America’s rise as a global industrial power.

That is a different mission than the one many Republicans shared in 2008, when the unifying goal was to protect the military gains of the war on terror from the radical anti-war agenda that had seized the resurgent Democrats. McCain was a better fit for that agenda, and Romney is a weak standard-bearer for the new one, having supported big government interventions–albeit at the state level–in both health care and energy.

(more…)

Publisher’s Note: The article below is one person’s subjective opinion and not endorsed by this site. During one of my first and most memorable speaking events at the Reagan Ranch Center on behalf of Young America’s Foundation I spoke after my friend and outspoken lesbian Conservative activist, Tammy Bruce. I wholeheartedly endorse Young America’s Foundation. I am proud to speak at its events and to the young leaders who go through their programs. I would not associate myself with a group that had bigotry of any form on its agenda or in its leadership. Upon further investigation, there is no evidence to suggest that Young America’s Foundation removed from their lists or silenced anyone, or that the ACU vote is reflective of Young America’s Foundation policies.

Andrew Breitbart

***

I recently heard about CPAC’s refusal to allow GOProud, an organization of gay conservatives, to participate in the conference. I couldn’t help but remember the days when I eagerly volunteered and promoted organizations such as the American Conservative Union, Young America’s Foundation, Clare Boothe Luce Policy Institute, among others.

I started my young activism back in 2007. I first attended the Conservative High School Leadership Conference with the Young America’s Foundation (YAF) that summer in Washington D.C. Everyone at YAF was excited to promote their ideas in hopes that a seed would be planted, or in my case, nurtured. Speakers discussed the values of Ronald Reagan, limited government, the importance of church and state and the nuclear family.

As a young conservative, these unabashed speakers ignited a fire in me. I was not used to hearing discourse I agreed with. I grew up in a very liberal household where abortion was encouraged and redistribution of the wealth sacrosanct. Thus, I was enthralled with the opportunity to spread conservative values and I aligned myself closely with the principles that YAF was promoting. Well, most of them! I disagreed with their obsession with the “radical homosexual agenda” and the assumption that all homosexuals were sadistic perverts. My dissent was largely in part because I knew I would never fit their mold of a conservative leader. I am a lesbian.

Learning that the leaders of Young America’s Foundation and the Clare Boothe Luce Policy Institute (CBLPI) were actively involved in getting GOProud removed from CPAC did not surprise me. What they might be surprised to learn is that I am no more or no less a conservative activist because I am a lesbian. I was obviously not too perverted to enthusiastically be used a poster child for their programs prior to my coming out.

Despite knowing that I wasn’t the conservative ideal described by CBLPI and YAF, I still passionately supported the organizations that gave me a platform to express my political views. After my first summer YAF conference, I immersed myself in as many activism opportunities as possible. I wrote op-eds to local newspapers expressing my views, founded a 9-11 “Never Forget” committee at my high school, commemorated the anniversary of 9-11 with a memorial of 3,000 American flags, started the first Young Conservatives Club at my school, established an Adopt-a-Soldier Fund, honored veterans by organizing community outreach programs, protested local campus showings of the ridiculous Vagina Monologues, and attended as many conservative conferences as possible. I volunteered for local campaigns and even worked on several national GOP 2008 election campaigns. I spoke to audiences in my community, radio stations, newspapers, and numerous times on television about the importance of political activism at any age.

(more…)

It’s one the most troublesome aspects of the Pigford settlement – how could thousands (or tens of thousands) of people knowingly commit fraud to receive a $50,000 check that they weren’t entitled to?

We have the answer in the form of undercover audio that was recorded at a meeting that taught potential Pigford claimants exactly how to commit fraud. The meeting was conducted by a man named Thomas Burrell, the head of the Black Farmers Agricultural Association, Inc. At CPAC in February, we held a press conference where we released a two hour unedited section of audio. Now I’m releasing the first in a series of shorter excerpts that take you through some of the key points. I

There are two parts to the full answer of how such massive fraud could come to be ; one practical, the other ethical. Practically speaking, they were coached. They were told precisely what to say in order for their claim to pass muster with the adjudicator. Who told them? People like who conducted meetings for years throughout the country.

The ethical question is the more troubling part. I believe that thousands of basically honest people were induced into committing fraud by people like Mr. Burrell. How? As you will hear in this excerpt from undercover audio that we recorded earlier this year, Thomas Burrell uses a powerful combination of persuasive techniques including literally invoking the name of God, telling his audience that their ancestors were owed the money and the technique of “social proof”, which makes collecting a $50,000 check seem like something many people have done. Stir this together with the basic human failing of greed and frankly it’s a wonder that many more people do not file fraudulent claim.

Here is the first excerpt:

(more…)

“I think this is a group of people who don’t want to see black people receive a dime” — John W. Boyd, Jr., leader of the National Black Farmers Association.

I’ve been a blogger at The Huffington Post for several years now and if you head over there sometime, you may notice that Rep. Michelle Bachman is featured quite often on the site — usually in a way that makes her appear either crazy or stupid or both. To be fair, the Bigs don’t go out of their way to make Nancy Pelosi look awesome, either. That’s the way the blogs bounce.

Still, I was somewhat surprised when I met the congresswoman at CPAC at how immediately I realized she wasn’t at all the person she’s portrayed — she’s smart, articulate, and her speech at CPAC about Pigford was pitch perfect in it’s focus on the real farmers as victims of Pigford fraud.

In this short interview, Rep. Bachmann and I discuss Pigford as well as an aspect of her life that — literally — not a single liberal friend of mine knew anything about: her commitment as a parent to her own five children plus over twenty foster kids. It seems to me that Rep. Bachmann’s opponents don’t want the image of her as that kind of person to be known because it would tend to make her seem human and likable. (more…)

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Download Podcast | iTunes | Podcast Feed

On today’s edition of Coffee and Markets, Brad Jackson and Ben Domenech are joined by Benjamin Zycher to discuss Obamacare, the FDA and the importance of competition in health care, then Pejman Yousefzadeh talks about Mitch Daniels and CPAC.

We’re brought to you as always by BigGovernment and Stephen Clouse and Associates. If you’d like to email us, you can do so at coffee[at]newledger.com. We hope you enjoy the show.

Related Links:

That Took No Time at All
That Took No Time At All: Part II
Drug Development Needs Private Industry
BURR & COBURN: Caution kills
Fire the FDA Now
The Role of Public-Sector Research in the Discovery of Drugs and Vaccines
Now they tell us
Is He Reagan? Or Is He Gorbachev?
Mitch Daniels at CPAC
(more…)

New Media Entrepreneur declares that his voice will not be suppressed.

Andrew Breitbart and the head of Breitbart.tv sued by Pigford claimant.

Los Angeles, CA, February 12, 2011 – Breitbart.com LLC announced today that its Chairman and CEO Andrew Breitbart and the head of Breitbart.tv, Larry O’Connor, have been sued in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia by a central figure in the Pigford “back-door” reparations case. The Pigford case involves over $2.5 billion in US taxpayer money and constitutes one of the biggest cases of corruption
and politically-motivated fraud in the history of the United States. Mr. Breitbart and Breitbart.tv have been investigating and reporting on the Pigford case since late summer 2010.

Andrew Breitbart said, in response to being sued, “I find it extremely telling that this lawsuit was brought almost seven months after the alleged incidents that caused a national media frenzy occurred. It is no coincidence that this lawsuit was filed one day after I held a press conference revealing audio proof of orchestrated and systemic Pigford fraud. I can promise you this: neither I, nor my journalistic
websites, will or can be silenced by the institutional Left, which is obviously funding this lawsuit. I welcome the judicial discovery process, including finding out which groups are doing so.”

On Thursday, February 10, 2011, at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington, D.C., Mr. Breitbart held a national press conference at which he, Huffington Post blogger Lee Stranahan, and black farmer Eddie Slaughter presented compelling evidence for, and Representatives Michele Bachmann (R-MN) and Steve King (R-IA) specifically called for, Congressional investigation into the Pigford case.

At the press conference, Mr. Breitbart revealed two hours of audio of Thomas Burrell, the head of the Black Farmers & Agriculturalist Association, Inc., teaching non-farmers in the South how to commit fraud in the Pigford “back-door” reparations case. This audio conclusively demonstrates how people have conspired to grow the class of Pigford claimants to 94,000, when in fact, there were only
about 18,000 black farmers in the entire country during the relevant time period, and when there were never anticipated to be more than a few thousand potential claimants among those 18,000. The numbers just do not and cannot add up.

“I am determined to obtain justice for the truly and legitimately discriminated against American black farmers, who have heretofore been denied justice by the USDA and the Pigford case,” Andrew Breitbart said. “Nothing will deter my efforts to make them whole. I will simultaneously continue to fight relentlessly against the efforts of those who would use these working American farmers to defraud
the American taxpayer to the tune of billions of dollars. This new lawsuit will not stop the American public from finding out what is really going on, who is directly culpable, and the critical role of the Pigford claimant in all off this.”

(more…)

Texas congressman Ron Paul has won the straw poll at the Conservative Political Action Conference, while former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney has finished second.

Paul got 30 percent, while Romney got 23 percent of the votes of those attending the conference in Washington. Others were grouped far behind. Paul is a hero to libertarians and has a fiercely loyal following. Paul also won last year.

The straw poll was co-sponsored by CPAC and The Washington Times.

A total of 3742 people, about a third of total CPAC attendees, voted in the poll, a 64% increase over last year .

Comprehensive results here.

Ron Raul: 30%, Mitt Romney: 23%, Gary Johnson: 6%, Chris Christie: 6%, Newt Gingrich: 5%, Tim Pawlenty: 4%, Michele Bachmann: 4%, Mitch Daniels: 4%, Sarah Palin: 3%, Herman Cain: 2%, Mike Huckabee: 2%, Rick Santorum: 2%, John Thune: 2%, Jon Huntsman: 1%, Haley Barbour: 1% (more…)

Andrew Breitbart addresses the CPAC convention and discusses his affinity for disrupting left wing protests simply by asking the protesters questions.

Has the conservative movement become a champion of gay rights? Is gun-owning, lesbian singer Sophie B. Hawkins of “Damn I Wish I Was Your Lover” fame a liberal in bed and conservative in the head?

Last night, Reason’s Michael Moynihan dropped by the Big Gay Party, a celebration of the role of the conservative movement in advocating for gay rights, which was hosted by conservative gay group GOProud and new media mogul Andrew Breitbart. The party was part of the festivities surrounding the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), which was boycotted by some conservatives because of GOProud’s participation.

The video features interviews with Army Lt. Dan Choi, Gay Activist; Andrew Breitbart, Breitbart.com; Fred Smith, president of the Competitive Enterprise Institute; radio host Guy Benson; Evan Coyne Maloney, the director of Indoctrinate U; Michael Steele, former Republican National Committee chair; Liz Mair, GOProud Advisory Council; Bruce Majors, libertarian blogger; Richard Grenell, Capitol Media Partners; Larry O’Connor, Breitbart.tv; and singer-songwriter Sophie B. Hawkins.

(more…)