Speech at 2011 CPAC conference: on Government Reform

Elena Kagan: Commerce clause does not apply to non-economic activities

Kagan, June 29, 2010: "The commerce clause has been interpreted broadly. It's been interpreted to apply to regulatio of any instruments or channels of commerce, but it's also been applied to anything that would substantially affect interstate commerce. It has not been applied to non-economic activities, and that's the teaching of Lopez and Morrison, that the Congress can't regulate non-economic activities, especially to the extent that those activities have traditionally been regulated by the states. And I think that that would be the question that the court would ask with respect to any case of this kind."

Rand Paul: FactCheck: No, Kagan never she'd regulate vegetable eating

Kagan's response was not "yes." During the 10-minute exchange, she outlined precedents set by the Supreme Court and how the commerce clause has been applied, but she did not give a response to Coburn's hypothetical question about vegetables.

Kagan, June 29, 2010: "The commerce clause has been interpreted broadly. It's been interpreted to apply to regulation of any instruments or instrumentalities or channels of commerce, but it's also been applied to anything that would substantially affect interstate commerce.. the Congress can't regulate non-economic activities."

Tim Pawlenty: Set a record for vetoes in Minnesota's history

The big spenders in Washington have us on a course of trillion dollar deficits for as far as the eye can see. It's not a matter of right versus left. It's a matter of 6th grade mathematics. It isn't going to work. It's irresponsible, it's unsustainable and it's reckless.

The naysayers say "we can't cut spending; we have to raise taxes." I drew a line in the sand and said, "Absolutely not. We're going to live within our means just like families, just like businesses, just like everybody else."

It wasn't easy. I set a record for vetoes in my State. Vetoed billions of dollars of tax and spending increases. Had the first government shutdown in Minnesota's history. And, in the last budget period, I cut spending in real terms for the first time in the history of my state. The federal government should do the same.

Mitch Daniels: Government should enable private life to flourish

Every day, we work to lower the costs and barriers to free men and women creating wealth for each other. We build roads, and bridges, and new sources of homegrown energy at record rates, in order to have the strongest possible backbone to which people of enterprise can attach their investments and build their dreams. When business leaders ask me what they can do for Indiana, I always reply: "Make money. Go make money. That's the first act of 'corporate citizenship.' If you do that, you'll have to hire someone else, and you'll have enough profit to help one of those non-profits we're so proud of." We place our trust in average people.

Mitch Daniels: At OMB, first loud critic of Congressional earmarks

Lost to history is the fact that, in my OMB assignment, I was the first loud critic of Congressional earmarks. I was also the first to get absolutely nowhere in reducing them: first to rail and first to fail. They are a pernicious practice and should be stopped. But, in the cause of national solvency, they are a trifle. Talking much more about them, or "waste, fraud, and abuse," trivializes what needs to be done, and misleads our fellow citizens to believe that easy answers are available to us. In this room, we all know how hard the answers are, how much change is required.

Paul Ryan: Government should not solve every social problem

The answer to this question dictates the size of government. If you believe government should be doing more to solve every social problem, you cannot also believe in limited government