"The American People Know What Makes Sense And What Doesn’t‪.."

Congressman Mike Pence issues the challenge.. Preserve The Real American Revolution.

November 19, 2009
“I stand before you today at an historic moment for the conservative movement and for this great country. The coming weeks and months may well set the course for this nation for a generation and beyond. How we as conservatives respond could well determine whether America retains her place as a beacon of hope in the world, or whether we slip into the abyss that has swallowed much of Europe in an avalanche of Socialism.‪

“While some are prepared to write the obituary on capitalism and conservative values, I believe we are in the midst of a great American awakening. And it is breaking out all across this land, in town halls and tea parties, coffee shops and church halls, in New Jersey and Virginia, and in the hearts and minds of everyday Americans, who are fed up with runaway federal spending, bailouts and takeovers by both parties and are saying with one voice: enough is enough.‪

“The American people know what makes sense and what doesn’t‪.


“When you look at the failed Democratic policies on stimulus, cap and trade and healthcare, it looks like their recovery strategy is, 'the beatings will continue until morale improves.’ Democrat policies in Washington D.C. are taking our economy from bad to worse. The unemployment rate in this country reached a 26 year high, 10.2 percent, the worst since 1983 and the national debt reaches 12 trillion dollars.‪

“And where was President Obama this week? In China visiting our money and being lectured on monetary policy by communist dictators‪. But seriously, the image is striking: a President of the United States, flying on one more foreign junket, to one more glamorous capitol, as our nation continues to struggle in the city and on the farm and unemployment rises to record levels.

“To get this administration to focus on creating jobs, maybe the president should spend less time at the Great Wall of China and more time at Wal-Mart!

" What we see here tonight and at town hall meetings, tea party rallies across this country, and in the march on Washington in Washington, D.C., is not the orchestrated theater of liberal special interest groups. It’s authentic and it’s powerful and it’s real and it’s American.‪ And the American people know this is not just about dollars and cents, it’s about who we are as a nation.

“That became very clear to me about one year ago this weekend. It was in the aftermath of that Wall Street bailout vote. Along with a majority of House Republicans, I opposed that bailout not once, but twice. I just thought it was wrong to take $700 billion from Main Street and transfer it to Wall Street to pay for the bad decisions that had been made there.

“You remember how it went. We stopped that bill once but the White House passed it over in the Senate, brought it back and rolled us. After it passed, I got on a plane to fly back to Indiana. Now you can probably tell that I’m a pretty upbeat guy, but that Saturday morning I was a little bit down. I was heartsick about what I’d seen our country do. But I had promised to speak at a Boy Scout jamboree in New Castle, Indiana, and I meant to keep that promise.

“You know the scene. It was a cold October Saturday morning, a line of Boy Scouts, ties pulled to the side, one shirttail out, standing up straight. I gave them my best speech about American history and then a few adults waited to talk to me afterwards. A lot of them talked about the bailout vote from the day before, about where the economy was headed. 


“But there was one man standing off to the side, modestly dressed. And when the other adults dispersed, he walked up to me, hat in hand, and said words I'll never forget. He said, ‘Congressman, I’d seen in the newspaper that you were going to be out here. I lost my job yesterday, but I came out here to thank you for voting against that Wall Street bailout.’ I looked at him and I said, ‘Well, I’m sorry for your trouble, but I have to tell you, I admire your stand.’ And that American looked me in the eye that cold October morning and said words that are now chiseled on my heart. He said, ‘Congressman, I came by to thank you because I can get another job, but I can’t get another country.’

More from Mike Pence..

(Mike Pence was first elected to Congress in 2000, representing Indiana's 6th district, and was most recently elected to a fifth term in November of 2008. He also was elected unanimously by House Republicans to serve as House Republican Conference Chairman in November 2008. In his role as Conference Chairman, he helps to develop and disseminate the message of the Republican Conference and to promote its Members. He is the former chairman of the Republican Study Committee.

Congressman Pence describes himself as "a Christian, a conservative and a Republican, in that order.")