PRINCIPLES

Today I’d like to talk a little bit about principles, the principles the United States was built on. I think we can all agree on the importance of core American principles like liberty and equality. I hope we never forget the importance of those principles. But there’s one fundamental principle, a principle that was highly valued by the founding fathers, that everyone seems to have already forgotten: restraint. In particular, restraint in federal government.

Sadly, our country has taken an unfortunate turn away from the decentralized and limited government that the founders envisioned. To remedy that, I hope to rein in the federal government in three crucial areas: education, environment, and the economy.

First, education. I’ve talked to a lot of people and done a lot of research on the Common Core standards, and the heartbreaking truth of the matter is, they’re really sabotaging the American education system. It’s not surprising but it is heartbreaking. I talked to a science teacher, Mr. Anthony Cody, who also happens to write for the Education Week newspaper. And he said to me, there were 25 people involved in drafting the standards. 25 people. Can you guess how many of them were teachers?

ZERO. There were ZERO teachers involved in drafting the standards. But there were 6 people associated with College Board testmakers, 5 with ACT test publishers, and 4 with Achieve Testing. So it’s pretty clear to see who’s winning in this situation. It’s not the teachers. It’s definitely not the students. It’s the testmakers, who rake in millions at the expense of every student’s future success.

That’s why I was saddened, but not surprised, when the found that since the government’s intervention into education with Common Core, the percentage of college-ready students has dropped. And that’s why I am resolved to fight to return the power to state and local governments, and the educators, parents and teachers who actually have a voice in those local governments. I will fight to return the power to the people who know that learning means a lot more than testing. And I will fight to revitalize American education.

The second area where government intrusion must be reduced is the environment. I believe in a cap and trade system, the heart of which is the idea that the government has a minimal role in it, and the private market has a maximum role in it.

So I can foresee some controversy around this idea. I’m probably going to get a lot of heat for it. And the reason is, right now everyone thinks “going green” means limiting ourselves. We think we need to sacrifice businesses, cut down on economic growth—we can’t contemplate environmental progress any other way. Well, I think we should redefine what “going green” means. It doesn’t need to focus on cutting things. Instead, it should focus on increasing other things. Basically, instead of limiting economic growth the way the government is now, cap and trade will encourage growth by incentivizing innovation in the next technological frontier: green energy. And since American entrepreneurship has been at the forefront of solving problems for centuries, so I believe it can be at the forefront of addressing global warming.

The last issue I want to address is the economy and tax reform. The question of whether we should cut taxes—for individual workers as well as businesses—has apparently been pretty controversial. And to be honest, I really don’t understand why.

Nowadays, you and I are increasingly pressured to choose between the left and the right. But I’d like to paraphrase Ronald Reagan and say, there is no such thing as left or right. There’s only up or down. And any person who is willing to put aside politics and look at history can see that tax cuts are the best way to make the economy go up. In fact, a few weeks ago, the Council of Economic Advisers estimated that just the corporate tax cut would boost GDP growth by 3 to 5 percent.

In the end, this election comes down to principles. It comes down to whether we will uphold individualism and self-government or whether we will abandon Thomas Jefferson and George Washington and confess that a group of bureaucrats in a far-distant capital can plan our lives for us better than we can plan them ourselves.

I reject that idea and I hope you do too.

I believe that the defining characteristic of the United States of America is not the size or the strength or the control of our government. Never has been, never will be. It’s the vitality and capability of us, the people. That’s why I want to return the power to you—to every teacher, every innovator, and every hard worker—and why I’ve always held that LESS government IS MORE prosperity.

If you want to see the American spirit unleashed once again, I hope to have your support.

Thank you.