Cheney said she was significantly more concerned with the expansion of the "bureaucratic" state, pointing to President Barack Obama's executive actions to regulate greenhouse gas emissions--which contribute to global warming--and Democrats' so-called "war on coal."
Cheney also criticized those who are concerned about climate change last year during her failed primary bid against Sen. Mike Enzi (R-WY). In June, she told conservative host Sean Hannity that "the science is just simply bogus, you know, we know that temperatures have been stable for the last 15 years."
While in office, Dick Cheney fought hard against any efforts to take global warming seriously as well. He blocked testimony on the issue and worked to undercut environmental rules for the benefit of businesses.
Rarely has a U.S. president been so wrong about so much at the expense of so many. Too many times to count, Mr. Obama has told us he is "ending" the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan--as though wishing made it so. His rhetoric has now come crashing into reality. Watching the black-clad ISIS jihadists take territory once secured by American blood is final proof, if any were needed, that America's enemies are not "decimated." They are emboldened and on the march.
In the 1980s, when Cheney was attending Colorado College, a campus group called the Colorado College Community Against Apartheid led regular demonstrations to push the college to adopt a policy of divestment--an economic protest in which the college would agree not to invest in companies that had business interests in South Africa. The group, as did protesters on other campuses, constructed a "shanty town" on the quad, and it organized an on-stage demonstration at the school's 1987 graduation ceremony. That year's commencement speaker: Liz Cheney's mother, Lynne.
Ultimately, Cheney's argument won out on her campus. Colorado College was not one of the 167 American educational institutions to divest its financial resources from South Africa in the 1980s.
"We can choose to make ourselves feel better by proclaiming our outrage and walking away or we can take the more difficult route of committing ourselves to bringing down the pillars of Apartheid by providing jobs, education and training for South African blacks," she wrote.
The African National Congress and their supporters around the world backed divestment as a means to bring about the end of the apartheid regime.
CHENEY: Yes. We do need to recognize that health care costs are out of control. There is a need for tort reform, to purchase insurance across state lines, and to find ways to insure people with pre-existing conditions. I don't think we can salvage any of ObamaCare, and this disaster must be repealed. I would hope that even this president is having a wake-up call, realizing that the federal government cannot effectively run massive and complicated parts of our economy. Just look at this tax on medical devices. I have a 13-year-old daughter with diabetes that is reliant on a medical device. My father is alive today because of medical devices. Yet the Democrats want a tax that would create a disincentive for people to invent. This is fundamentally wrong.
CHENEY: The over reaching threat to our freedom, Constitution, and individual liberties. How have these rights been protected? This administration has a massive expansion of the federal government and the complete disregard for the rule of law. Americans should understand that we are really at a fork in the road, and if we head down the wrong road, we are going to look a lot like a European social democracy. The other issue is radical Islamic terrorism, a threat that is getting stronger today. With both these issues there is the potential of very dire consequences if we are to do nothing.
CHENEY: Because of the dangers facing this country and my state, Wyoming. I believe this is the most radical president ever to inhabit the Oval Office. I also believe we have a real limited window of time, and this next election is a moment of decision for us as a nation. Are we going to go along to get along and implement President Obama's agenda: European social democracy, a weakened nation overseas, and a massively expanded welfare state? For example, in Wyoming, there is an expanded Federal government, and bureaucracies like the EPA, that is doing anything they can to kill the coal, natural gas, and oil industries. We need to take this president on and consider what he is doing, declaring a "war on coal." There has to be people in Congress who are willing to stand up and fight back, like myself, and not sit on the sidelines.
CHENEY: Obviously, the biggest problem is still Pres. Obama, but right behind him is some senators. Senator Enzi here in Wyoming has been in office for 18 years, and his biggest piece of legislation was a national sales tax proposal. He also played a role as part of the Gang of Six in the early years of ObamaCare. This old guard likes to do anything they can to defend the status quo. Take for example the special deals they have been getting under ObamaCare. They are getting a taxpayer subsidy and access to different parts of the website that no one else gets. This old guard really thinks they don't have to live under the laws they pass. Look at the National Republican Senatorial Committee, which is 100% an incumbent-protection agency. Unfortunately, this is not good enough when we are facing such a radical president. If all we do is protect incumbents, we are not going to be able to elect people to lead into the 21st century.
CHENEY: The president's foreign policy is a disaster. [One pundit] wrote, "At what point can we legitimately ask why President Obama is protecting and facilitating the Iran nuclear program?" It is clear that the Israelis feel we pulled the rug out from under them, as we have. The president's actions are taking us closer to a nuclear arms race in the Middle East. These countries don't trust us, nor do they believe they will be protected under our nuclear umbrella. We need people in Congress that will not just speak out, but take actions to block this president's bad policies. We should have learned from the times in the Bush administration when some wanted to negotiate with Iran and North Korea. These rogue regimes will try to play us every chance they can get. The only thing they understand is power and strength.
A: When I say fight smart, what I really am focused on is getting results. But you have to know how to do it. You have to know how you can actually cut these agencies, how you can actually limit the regulation, how you can actually roll the federal government back.
Q: There is not a whole lot of daylight between yourself and Senator Enzi in terms of policy.
A: Well, yes, except Senator Enzi's been there for 18 years. When you've been there for 18 years, you have to deal with the results, what you've been able to deliver for the people of Wyoming. And if I thought that Senator Enzi, whatever his tactics, would be able to effectively prevent President Obama from taking the nation down this path to European social democracy--I wouldn't need to be in this race. He hasn't, and there's no sense, frankly, that he will. I think we've got to have a new generation.
A: I think that yes, it is dangerous. I think isolationism is a mistake, no matter what party you see it in. We have to remember that there are two threats to our freedom: there's a threat that comes from the federal government, from the Obama Administration policies, but there's also a huge and significant threat from al-Qaeda. The war on terror is still underway. Al-Qaeda is stronger today than it's been in many years. We have to be able to protect our freedom from both of those threats.
A: You have to look at some of his own speeches. Look at the speech he made at the U.N. in 2009, when he said no world order that elevates one nation above others can long survive. That's not somebody who believes in American exceptionalism. Going to Cairo that year, talking about how America abandoned its values after 9/11. You don't go onto foreign soil, the home of Mohammed Atta, and criticize us. This is a president who is uncomfortable with American strength, uncomfortable with American power. I believe he came into office intending to take us down a notch. I think he came into office believing we're a force for ill in the world.
A: I think if you looked at the differences between my dad and me, I think the biggest difference is he's never been a 47-year-old mother of five. Another area is he's more confident in the NSA program. My view of the NSA program is the following: I think it saved lives. I think it prevented attacks. And I don't think we can be in a position where we're saying, shut the whole thing down. But I do know that today, with a President who so clearly flouts the rule of law and the Constitution, there are legitimate concerns about whether we have the balance between civil liberties and our security right. That's a question we have to ask constantly.
A: I think there are some instances where U.S. security is threatened by rogue regimes, by foreign dictators, and there are some instances where liberating nations helps to restore our security. Afghanistan, I would say Iraq--places that had been havens for terror. The problem in Syria is that if the President had acted two years ago, it would be different. What was on the table wasn't, "Should we liberate the Syrian people from Bashar Assad?" What was on the table was conducting limited strikes. Basically the President was saying we should do this to send a message. And I'm never going to be for the use of military force to send a message.
CHENEY: Legislating is about knowing where to draw the line. Certainly, at some point, we all believe in compromise for the good of the nation. So, when the president or his allies say, "Hey, we're going to take over a sixth of the economy," Sen. Enzi's response was essentially to say, "OK, let's negotiate about that." The right response would have been: absolutely not. And, frankly, if all of the Republicans had done that at the beginning, had stood their ground and refused to compromise on this, we probably wouldn't be where we are today. Instead, you have Republicans like Sen. Enzi who gave the president the ability to say, "Hey, this is a bipartisan effort"--when, in fact, it wasn't. It was never intended to be. And they got used.
CHENEY: "When I was 12 years old, my dad ran for Congress and we campaigned together as a family all across Wyoming. I'm running for the United States Senate because it's time for a new generation of leaders to step up to the plate."
Q: You talk about your long family roots in Wyoming, but you, your husband, and your children just moved out from northern Virginia last year. Some people in Wyoming are saying you're a carpetbagger.
CHENEY: The folks making the carpetbagger charge tend to be people who don't want to talk about Senator Enzi's lack of resolve. The time that I spent working inside federal agencies in Washington is experience that's very important for what I think that has got to be the top priority of a Wyoming senator, which is rolling back the massive expansion of our federal government, cutting agencies, cutting their size, cutting their funding. You got to get the federal government under control
CHENEY: It's not about age. It's about that he's been here for 18 years. And the people of Wyoming are suffering greatly. We're ground zero for Obama's policies. It's not enough just to say, "I'm going to go along and get along. I'm going to continue business as usual here in Washington." You've got to demonstrate results. And it's going to take people on our side of the aisle who are willing to lead; people who are willing to stand up and say, "The president's war on coal isn't just going to devastate Wyoming, anybody around this country who likes to flip a switch and have the lights come on, who appreciate affordable electricity, you're with us in the war on coal." But it requires leadership. And, frankly, over the last five years, things have gotten worse for the people of Wyoming, not better.
CHENEY: We talked about ObamaCare; I would not have participated in the "gang of six".
Q: But he passed it without a single Republican vote.
CHENEY: This is not just about voting; it's about whether or not the Republicans have new voices to stand up and mobilize people on our side to begin to roll this back. Secondly, Senator Enzi's hallmark piece of legislation that he's done with Dick Durbin, one of the most liberal members of the United States Senate. That's the Internet sales tax. And I fundamentally believe either you're on the side of the government has got plenty of money, we need to have people more of their own money, or you're looking for ways to tax people more. The Internet sales tax is a way to tax people more. As Wyoming senator, I would, every single day, be fighting to help people in Wyoming keep more money in their own pockets.
Liz Cheney said, "I am strongly pro-life and I am not pro-gay marriage. I believe the issue of marriage must be decided by the states, and by the people in the states, not by judges and not even by legislators, but by the people themselves. The people of Wyoming deserve an honest campaign. They should not be subject to the kind of dirty tricks this push poll represents. I call on Senator Enzi to denounce this poll and to tell the National Republican Senatorial Committee, or anyone else promoting untruths on his behalf, to stop."
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The above quotations are from State of Wyoming Politicians: Archives.
Click here for other excerpts from State of Wyoming Politicians: Archives. Click here for other excerpts by Liz Cheney. Click here for a profile of Liz Cheney.
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