John McCain rips the bark off of Romney!

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ARLINGTON, VA — U.S. Senator John McCain delivered the following remarks to the New Hampshire Republican Party in Manchester today, Saturday, October 13th:

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Thank you for that kind introduction.  It is an honor to speak to you. 

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I don’t usually do this but I’m going to depart for a moment from the issues I want to talk to you about today.  One of the other Republican candidates made an extraordinary statement yesterday.  Former Governor Romney yesterday proclaimed himself the only real Republican in this race.  As we all know, when he ran for office in Massachusetts being a Republican wasn’t much of a priority for him. 

In fact, when he ran against Ted Kennedy, he said he didn’t want to return to the days of Reagan-Bush.  I always thought Ronald Reagan was a real Republican.

When Governor Romney donated money to a Democratic candidate in New Hampshire, I don’t think he was speaking for Republicans.  When he voted for a Democratic candidate for President, Paul Tsongas, I don’t think he was speaking for Republicans.  When he refused to endorse the Contract with America, I don’t think he was speaking for Republicans.  And when he was embracing the Democratic position on many major issues of the day, I don’t think he was speaking for Republicans.

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So you’ll understand why I’m a little perplexed when Mitt Romney now suggests that he’s a better Republican than me, or that he speaks for the Republican wing of the Republican Party.

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I think I’ve gotten to know the people of New Hampshire pretty well.  I know that before I can win your vote, I have to win your respect.  And to do that, you expect me to be honest with you about what I believe.  You might not always agree with me on every issue, but I hope you know I’m not going to con you.  The most important thing we have in this life is our self-respect.  And I’m not going to trade mine for anyone’s vote or for any office.  I’m going to tell you what I believe and let the chips fall where they will.  I’m confident New Hampshire Republicans feel the same way about your self-respect as I feel about mine. 

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Americans have lost trust in their government to do the essential things and to get out of their way in enjoying the freedom to make their own choices in their everyday lives.  We Republicans have been slow to offer bold solutions in the areas of health care and the environment, and our silence has eroded American’s trust in our party and made Democrat solutions that would do more harm than good seem attractive.  I want to restore that trust by reforming the way we do business in Washington and trusting the American people by giving them back the freedoms to make important choices, particularly in health care.

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We are approaching a "perfect storm" of problems that if not addressed by the next president, will cause our health care system to implode.  Here is what we know: First, we currently spend 2.2 trillion dollars-16 cents of every dollar we spend — on health care.  By 2015, just seven years from now, that number will nearly double to four trillion dollars.  Second, by 2019 Medicare will be broke.  We are currently spending more on Medicare than we are collecting in payroll taxes and cashing in the few IOU’s left in the trust fund.  In the meantime, more and more of our retirees’ social security checks will also go to pay for Medicare leaving our seniors with less money for their everyday expenses.  Third, by 2017 more money will be going out of social security than is coming in.  The next president must act to avert the impending "storm."  I won’t leave office without doing everything I can to fix these problems that threaten our future prosperity and power.

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This week I offered my plan to reform and strengthen our health care system.  It’s a plan built on a simple premise: bringing spiraling health care costs under control through market competition will benefit consumers and patient care, increase coverage by making insurance more affordable, and strengthen American economic competitiveness across the globe.  My plan puts the needs of individuals and families first, not government and insurance bureaucracies.  For example, it provides all individuals with a refundable tax credit of $2,500 and families with a $5,000 credit toward the purchase of health insurance, and rewards innovative insurance by allowing any money remaining to be deposited in tax-free Health Savings Accounts. 

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It promotes robust health care markets by, among other things, allowing families to purchase insurance across state lines and through any willing provider such as an association or a church.  It focuses on tort reform to stop frivolous lawsuits which enrich trial lawyers while raising health costs for everyone else.  My plan harnesses market competition to lower pharmaceutical costs by fostering a more efficient process for bringing cheaper generic drugs to consumers sooner and developing a workable system that permits the safe reimportation of drugs to keep competition vigorous. 

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I am running for President to restore the trust of taxpayers in their government.  Americans have lost trust in their government to spend their hard earned money wisely.  Today, the government spends more money than ever before.  Since Ronald Reagan left office, government spending adjusted for inflation has increased $2,500 for every man, woman and child in the country.  Wasteful spending has gone from irresponsible to indefensible.  When Congress sends a pork-laden spending bill to my desk, I will veto it.  The Congress just passed a Water Resources and Development Act with 900 earmark projects.  If I got that bill, I’d veto it in a heartbeat.  No is always the right answer to wasteful spending. 

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I believe we must also address the issue of climate change now just as Republican Teddy Roosevelt had the vision a century ago to preserve many of the natural treasures our families enjoy today.  Today, the burning of fossil fuels is contributing to the build-up of greenhouse gases in the earth’s atmosphere, altering our climate with the potential for major social, economic and political upheaval.  The world is already feeling the powerful effects of global warming, and more dire consequences are predicted if we let the growing deluge of greenhouse gas emissions continue.  A group of senior retired military officers warned recently about the potential upheaval caused by conflicts over water, arable land and other natural resources under strain from a warming planet.  I’m not about to ignore this challenge by spouting empty words of concern without offering any course for real action.  This is why I have joined with Joe Lieberman to pursue a market-based, cap and trade system that will bolster our economic competitiveness and achieve appropriate limits on greenhouse gas emissions as efficiently and effectively as possible without harming our economy.  I will ensure that such a system is harnessed as a means of diversifying the nation’s energy mix to make us less dependent on foreign oil so our dollars don’t flow to tyrants and terrorists, like Hugo Chavez or Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

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But even with all these challenges, I believe defending our nation against attack from Islamic extremists must remain the top priority of the commander in chief.

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I stand before you at a perilous time, a perilous time for our party but, far more important, a perilous time for our country.

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We face an implacable enemy dedicated to our destruction.  We face criticism at home and abroad.  Some doubt that we can prevail against our enemies — Islamic extremists that operate in Europe, the Americas, Africa, the Middle East and Asia.  Just last month, terrorist plots were uncovered in Denmark and Germany that had the potential to kill hundreds or thousands demonstrating how serious the threat is, yet much of Washington remains mired in irresolution and defeatism.

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I would like to speak to you about a leader of our party whose roots of leadership and wisdom we should also remember and rely on.  Three decades ago, a visi
onary politician described the dangers in the world.  It was, like today, a time when some doubted America’s goodness and greatness.  Many argued for reconciliation with our global adversary.  But this man held firm.  He did not care what editorial boards wrote about him.  He did what he thought was right.  He criticized the liberal Democrats’ foreign policy of weakness and vacillation.  He called for resolve and firmness in dealing with the Soviet Union.  And, he refused to condemn millions to perpetual Communist tyranny in the false hope that accommodating the Soviet Union would contribute to America’s security.

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Fortunately, this man, Governor Reagan, became President Reagan.  How different would our lives be had he not won election in 1980 and 1984?  Does anyone believe a liberal Democratic President would have called the Soviet Union an "evil empire" or would have stood up to the nuclear freeze movement?  Can you imagine a liberal Democratic President saying communism should be left on the ash heap of history, or calling on Gorbachev to tear down the Berlin Wall?  While many Democrats tried to defund weapons systems and freedom fighters, Ronald Reagan was steadfast — and he was right.  Thanks to his leadership, the Soviet Union dissolved and the Cold War was won on our terms.

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Today, the challenges are at least as severe as they were when Ronald Reagan stood tall.  And, today, the differences between Republicans and Democrats on national security are every bit as stark as they were 30 years ago.  Today, leading Democratic presidential candidates vote against funding for our troops engaged in war in Afghanistan and Iraq.  Today, leading democratic presidential candidates question whether there is a war on terror, offer to enter into unconditional negotiations with our worst enemies, and talk about countering the forces of radicalism by advocating surrender to them in Iraq.  If the Democrats get their way in Iraq, if we cede Iraq to al Qaeda, how long will they stay the course in Afghanistan? 

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We face grave challenges in the Middle East: halting Iran’s nuclear ambitions; protecting our democratic ally, Israel; supporting moderate voices against the killers of Hamas and Hezbollah; defending Lebanon’s sovereignty against Syrian and Iranian aggression.  Does anyone seriously believe that we can better meet those challenges in the aftermath of an American defeat in Iraq?  It is irresponsible to think so, and any man or woman who does isn’t prepared to lead our country in the struggle against Islamic extremism.

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The world Ronald Regan faced was a dangerous one, but more stable than the world today. It was a world where we confronted a massive, organized threat to our security.  Our enemy was evil, but not irrational. And for all the suffering endured by captive nations; for all the fear of global nuclear war; it was a world made fairly predictable by a stable balance of power until our steadfastness and patience yielded an historic victory for our security and ideals.  That world is gone, and please don’t mistake my reminiscence as an indication that I miss it.  That world, after all, had much cruelty and terror, some of which it was my fate to witness personally.

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Today, we glimpse the prospect of another, better world, in which all people might someday share in the blessings and responsibilities of freedom.  But we also face a threat, and a long war to defeat it, that is as difficult and in many respects more destabilizing than any challenge we have ever faced.  We confront an enemy that so despises us and modernity itself that they would use any means, unleash any terror, cause the most unimaginable suffering to harm us, and to destroy the world we have tried throughout our history to build.

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Ronald Reagan warned of the need for firmness and vigilance in the 1970s.  Unfortunately, we did not heed his wisdom and we paid a horrible price for weakness and inattention toward the threat posed by Islamic extremism in the 1990s.  

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I have many responsibilities to the American people, and I try to take them all seriously.  But I have one responsibility that outweighs all the others and that is to use whatever meager talents I possess, and every resource God has granted me to protect the security of this great and good nation from all enemies foreign and domestic.  And that I intend to do, even if I must stand athwart popular opinion.  I will attempt to convince as many of my countrymen as I can that we must show even greater patience, though our patience is nearly exhausted, and that as long as there is a prospect for not losing this war then we must not choose to lose it.  That is how I construe my responsibility to my country.  That is how I construed it yesterday.  It is how I construe it today.  It is how I will construe it tomorrow.  I do not know how I could choose any other course.

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In 1974, Ronald Reagan gave his famous "Shining City Upon a Hill" speech and concluded by saying:

"We cannot escape our destiny, nor should we try to do so.  The leadership of the free world was thrust upon us in the little hall of Philadelphia.  In the days following World War II, when the economic strength and power of America was all the stood between the world and the return to the dark ages, Pope Pius XII said, ‘The American people have a great genius for splendid and unselfish actions.  Into the hands of America, God has placed the destinies of an afflicted mankind.’

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We are indeed, and we are today, the last best hope of man on earth."

It was my privilege to hear Governor Reagan deliver that speech.  I had recently been released from a long involuntary captivity and was seated as Governor Reagan’s guest.  His words ring true today when, once again, it falls to America to lead the world against a global threat, to remain the last best hope of man on earth.

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It is a privilege beyond measure to live in a country that has sacrificed so much for the cause of freedom.  I have lived a long, eventful and blessed life.  I have had the good fortune to know personally a great many brave and selfless patriots who sacrificed and shed blood to defend America.  But I have known none braver or better than those who do so today.  They are my inspiration.  And I pray to a loving God that He bless and protect them.  Thank you.