At its core, conservatism is not an anti-government movement, and it's not a no-government movement.
But those who believe that what our people desire is big government are living in a state of delusion.
I think the best thing that can happen to the Republican Party is that it is identified as a party organized around a set of principles, ideals and ideas for our future.
We can't stop talking about the importance of our values and our culture. We can't stop talking about them because the moral well-being of our people is directly linked to their economic well-being.
I am not now, nor will I ever be, a candidate for offensive coordinator of Iowa.
People are frustrated. This is the most generous country in the world when it comes to immigration. There are a million people a year who legally immigrate to the United States, and people feel like we're being taken advantage of. We feel like despite our generosity, we're being taken advantage of.
Americans chose a free enterprise system designed to provide a quality of opportunity, not compel a quality of results. And that is why this is only place in the world where you can open up a business in the spare bedroom of your home.
It's easier to sell cotton candy than it is to sell broccoli to somebody, but the broccoli is better for you, and the same thing with a limited government.
Climate is always evolving, and natural disaster have always existed.
If you know the only way to lose your seat is to get out-conservatived in a primary, you'll never let anyone get to your right.
My mother desperately wanted to give her kids a wholesome environment, and we were born into a traditional Catholic family.
I think there is a real misunderstanding about what the Tea Party movement is. The Tea Party movement is a sentiment in America that government is broken - both parties are to blame - and if we don't do something soon, this exceptional country will be lost, and it will become just like everybody else.
No matter where I go or what title I may achieve, I will always be the son of exiles.
I've seen how the left has used it to accuse opponents of their version of reform of being bigots and racists.
The more science learns, the more I'm convinced that God is real.
The American Dream is a term that is often used but also often misunderstood. It isn't really about becoming rich or famous. It is about things much simpler and more fundamental than that.
When I'm president of the United States, we're going to have a VA that cares more about our veterans than about the bureaucrats who work at the VA.
The private sector doesn't sit around and say - 'Well, since the president said we should do this, we should do it.'
The State of the Union address is always a reminder of how unique America is.
It has become starkly apparent to me that we lack any sort of strategic foreign policy view, and when I say 'we,' I mean the country in general, but in particular, the Republican Party.
Leaders at the highest levels of our government are undertaking a deliberate and systematic effort to redefine our government, our economy and our country.
America is the story of everyday people who did extraordinary things. A story woven deep into the fabric of our society.
I'm not a game-show contestant, I'm a U.S. senator.
First of all, let me just say what's interesting about American politics is that if things really get bad here, people say nasty things about you. From a global perspective, if politics get bad, you die, so let's just keep some perspective here.
We chose more freedom instead of more government. We chose the principles of our founding to solve the challenges of our time. We chose a special man to lead us in a special time. We chose Mitt Romney to lead our nation.
If I were running to be somebody, there are a lot of easier sombodies to be. After all, running against the incumbent governor of your own party in your home state is not the next logical step in a political life.
Our national motto is 'In God we Trust,' reminding us that faith in our Creator is the most important American value of all.
I believe that if you want to be president of the United States, you run for president. You don't run for president with some eject button in the cockpit that allows you to go on an exit ramp if it doesn't work out.
We are all children of a powerful and great God. Of a God who isn't always going to end - things are not always going to end up the way you want them. His will is not always going to be yours.
Every single one of us is the descendant of a go-getter. Of dreamers and of believers.
My parents were just as smart as I am, just as hard working if not harder; I think my father and grandfather were probably better men, yet I've been able to accomplish things professionally that they were not able to.
Free enterprise makes people prosperous, all people prosperous, and big government makes people poorer.
I think parents should be able to teach their kids what their faith says, what science says.
If you're the cashier at Burger King, of course you make less than the manager or even the CEO. The issue is whether you're stuck being a cashier for the rest of your life.
When was the last time you heard news accounts of a boatload of American refugees arrive on the shores of another country?
We have built a government so large and so expensive here in Washington that not even the richest economy in the history of mankind can afford it. That's how big it's gotten.
My parents were working class folks. My dad was a bartender for most of his life, my mom was a maid and a cashier and a stock clerk at WalMart. We were not people of financial means in terms of significant financial means. I always told them, 'I didn't always have what I wanted. I always had what I needed.' My parents always provided that.
There's no doubt that when the Republican Party took over in 1994, the 'Contract with America' was an opportunity to implement some things - like welfare reform and some of the other initiatives. Then, it kind of lost its steam.
The poverty found in rural areas has some characteristics that are very different from the poverty found in inner cities.
People end up fleeing countries who adopt economic policies based on these flawed principles. And more often than not, they come here.
In so many ways, a lot of the drive I've had to do certain things has been because of this sense that I have both the opportunity and in some sense the obligation to ratify that my parents' life had purpose.
Ronald Reagan's era can be defined, number one in most people's minds, by the Cold War and by the end of it - and by the strong principles he stood for.
The president we have today is a typical Washington politician that's prone to hyperbole and decisiveness and false outrage. And I think it's very sad - very sad to watch.
The Democrats have invested a lot of time in telling struggling Americans that Republicans or anyone who doesn't agree with their agenda doesn't care about people who are struggling.
More government isn't going to help you get ahead. It's going to hold you back. More government isn't going to create more opportunities. It's going to limit them.
No one is in favor of a bill that would force American citizens to have to interact with law enforcement in a way that wasn't appropriate.
We Americans are as great as we have ever been. But our government is broken.
Presidents in both parties - from John F. Kennedy to Ronald Reagan - have known that our free-enterprise economy is the source of our middle-class prosperity.
We have a legal immigration system that's outdated, it's primarily based on whether you have family members living here. In the 21st century, it has to be more of a merit-based system, and that is why our legal immigration system is in need of modernization.
