Tea Party in Can't Is Not an Option, by Gov. Nikki Haley

On Government Reform: Get state legislative "voice votes" on the record

When the old guard resisted change, I went to the people to make their voices heard. It turned out that all along, those people were the Tea Party. We hadn't formally found each other yet--they didn't even call themselves the Tea Party at the time--but they were the citizens who called the radio talk shows, wrote letters to the editor, and blasted e-mails to their friends & family to bring about change. Over time they would become my greatest friends and biggest supporters.

When I introduced my bill to get votes on the record, it was immediately and instinctively embraced by the Tea Party. As they got the word out, Democrats began to call me and ask to have their names put on the bill. Then Republicans did as well. The bill took on a life of its own. People across the state were calling their legislators to see if they supported the bill. I had legislators coming up to me in a panic saying, "Make sure my name is on the bill!" I fought alongside the Tea Party to get votes on the record.

Source: Can't Is Not an Option, by Gov. Nikki Haley, p. 72 Apr 3, 2012

On Health Care: OpEd: ObamaCare & bailouts both just throw money at problem

Barack Obama was muscling his trillion-dollar health-care bill through Congress. The more Americans learned about the president's plan, the less they liked it.

People in South Carolina were outraged by what they were seeing in Washington. For the Tea Party and many others, ObamaCare was just one more in a long train of Washington abuses that had begun with the TARP bailout. I shared their outrage. Everything I had fought against in Columbia was happening in Washington, and, what's more, the taxpayers would soon be handed an outrageous bill for it. As far as I was concerned, the health-care law was a part of the same DC mentality that had given us the bailouts: Don't fix the problem, just throw it back on the taxpayers and have them pay for it.

Source: Can't Is Not an Option, by Gov. Nikki Haley, p.122 Apr 3, 2012

On Principles & Values: Conservative Congress more important than GOP Congress

One of the main reasons that the Tea party and I are such a natural fit is that they understand the importance of putting principles before politics. Critics tried to discredit the Tea Party by calling them stooges of the GOP. In fact, they weren't a party at all. They were Republicans, Democrats, and independents who had had enough and were determined to change things. They instantly understood something that it took me 6 years in the South Carolina state house to figure out. It wasn't important that South Carolina--or Washington, for that matter--have a Republican Congress. Big spending and big government weren't working out in Columbia under Republicans any better than they were in Washington, D. C., under Democrats. And unless conservative principles trumped political expediency, that would never change. Source: Can't Is Not an Option, by Gov. Nikki Haley, p.115-116 Apr 3, 2012

The above quotations are from Can't Is Not an Option My American Story by Gov. Nikki Haley. Click here for other excerpts from Can't Is Not an Option My American Story by Gov. Nikki Haley. Click here for other excerpts by Tea Party. Click here for other excerpts by other Governors.
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