Speech at 2011 CPAC conference: on Homeland Security
Rand Paul:
Remove waste from last decade's doubling of military budget
There is one compromise we will have to make as conservatives: We will have to look long & hard at the military budget. The most important thing that our government does is our national defense. But you cannot say that the doubling of the military budget
in the last 10 years has been done wisely and there's not any waste in it. If you refuse to acknowledge that there's any waste can be culled from the military budget, you are a big-government conservative and can you not lay claim to balancing the budget
Source: Speech at 2011 Conservative Political Action Conference
Feb 11, 2011
Ron Paul:
We can't keep troops in 135 countries & 900 bases forever
Just remember the Soviet system did not collapse because we had to fight them, they collapsed for economic reasons. Guess where their final plunge was on their empire? Afghanistan. So it makes no sense for us to think that we can keep troops in
135 countries, 900 bases and think we can do it forever. So no matter how badly you want us to do that, it's time to reassess that foreign policy. It's time for us to bring troops home, we've had troops in
Japan since World War 2 and in Germany, why are we paying for their defense?Now, there's been a lot of talk about the budget deficit. The military is not equated to defense, defense spending is one thing, military spending is what
Eisenhower called the "military industrial complex" and we have to go after that. Government is out of control and it's very hard for us to get a handle on it.
Source: Speech at 2011 Conservative Political Action Conference
Feb 11, 2011
Mitch Daniels:
No free pass for national defense in budget cuts
Nothing, not even the first and most important mission of government, our national defense, can get a free pass. I served in two administrations that practiced and validated the policy of peace through strength. It has served America and the world with
irrefutable success. But if our nation goes over a financial Niagara, we won't have much strength and, eventually, we won't have peace. We are currently borrowing the entire defense budget from foreign investors. Within a few years, we will be spending
more on interest payments than on national security. That is not, as our military friends say, a "robust strategy."I personally favor restoring impoundment power to the presidency, at least on an emergency basis.
Having had this authority the last six years, and used it shall we say with vigor, I can testify to its effectiveness, and to this finding: You'd be amazed how much government you'll never miss.
Source: 2011 Conservative Political Action Conf. Keynote
Feb 10, 2011
Page last updated: Dec 03, 2018