#iafreedomsummit: Jim DeMint

‘It Was American Exceptionalism That Stood Up to the Soviet Union and Freed Hundreds of Millions’

◼ ‘It Was American Exceptionalism That Stood Up to the Soviet Union and Freed Hundreds of Millions’ - PJMedia

Sen. Ted Cruz: "Autocrats have reason to fear when Americans focus on our principles and focus on exceptionalism because it’s been American exceptionalism that stood up to the Nazis and stopped the murder from the Nazis, and it was American exceptionalism that stood up to the Soviet Union and freed hundreds of millions from behind the Iron Curtain."

◼ Jim DeMint Writes Letter to Vladimir Putin on American Exceptionalism - In pdf form from Heritage
◼ Misunderstanding American Exceptionalism - RUSH

That op-ed, by the way, that Putin wrote yesterday and American exceptionalism, I made the point when I analyzed that, that Obama doesn't believe in American exceptionalism. He thinks like Putin. He thinks it's bragging. It's unseemly. It's arrogant and conceited. "We're no better than anybody else and there's no such thing.

And, lo and behold, I found a tweet. A friend of mine sent me a tweet from Peter Beinart, who's a well-known leftist.

He worked to use the New Republic, I believe. He's out there, he's on Sunday shows, he's a guest on cable, and he tweeted the following: "At the end of his op-ed Putin said about American exceptionalism what many liberals feel but no American politician would say." So Beinart is admitting the point that I made yesterday. The left agrees with Putin! There is no such thing as American exceptionalism.

I'm telling you, folks, that is a crucially important thing for people to know.

◼ Fair Play! Pravda Allows Sen. McCain To Call Out Putin - Gateway Pundit

TOP 10 CONSERVATIVES TO WATCH IN 2013

◼ Conservatives have their work cut out for them to regain political momentum after a dismal 2012. Luckily, they have this list of leaders who can make a difference in 2013. - Ken Hanner/Human Events

1. Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan
2. Florida Sen. Marco Rubio
3. Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul
4. House Speaker John Boehner
5. California Rep. Darrell Issa
6. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell
7. Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder
8. Washington Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers
9. Heritage Foundation head Jim DeMint
10. Texas Sen. Ted Cruz

NFRW: Political Briefing

Senator Reid Seeks to Extend the TAG Program This Week:
Talking Points
◼ Senate bill 3637 was introduced late last month by Senator Harry Reid (D-NV), who wants to bring it to a vote this week. This bill extends the Transaction Account Guarantee (TAG) program, a system that supplements the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP).

◼ The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) normally insures bank account deposits up to $250,000. During the financial crisis, the TAG program was created to eliminate the cap on insuring deposits from $250,000 to infinity.

◼ The TAG program ensures there will be insurance for deposits for any amount of money, on the condition that the sum of money in a TAG account does not accrue any interest. Normally, wealthy individuals and corporations would not let large sums of money sit in a bank account without accruing interest, preferring to invest that money in the market. TAG changes things because now corporations and wealthy individuals would rather not take a risk by investing in the market when they can have any sum of money insured by taxpayers in a TAG account.

◼ Proponents of TAG argue that by incentivizing people to hold static large sums of money in banks, those banks will be able to lend more. However, according to the FDIC, lending has decreased since TAG was first enacted, not increased.

◼ TAG encourages people to put large sums of money into banks that may be troubled, meaning that if those banks begin to fail, taxpayers will be responsible for paying for any depositor's losses in a TAG account.

◼ As Peter Wallison points out in the American Banker, $1.6 trillion, or 13% of all bank deposits are now a part of the TAG program. The average account size TAG is concerned with has $2 million in it; 19 of the largest banks take 2/3 of taxpayer-backed TAG insurance.

◼ The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has scored Senate bill 3637 and determined that it increases the deficit. Click here to see the brief report.

◼ If the economy recovers and interest rates rise, people will take money out of TAG accounts and invest it to take advantage of the higher interest rates. This could create a problem where banks then stop lending because there is no longer the necessary liquidity to do so, causing any recovery to be cut short. Even still, banks have been lending less since TAG was enacted in January 2011, so the argument that the program enables banks to have sufficient capital at hand to lend fails because it is not incentivizing banks to lend.

◼ It is strange for Democrats to want to put the taxpayer on the line for bailing out corporations and wealthy individuals with liquid assets over $250,000 if their banks fail, but also want to raise taxes on the same wealthy Americans because they believe it will help the middle class.

◼ Finally, TAG was passed as a temporary program, set to expire on December 31, 2012, after which the FDIC would return to business as usual by insuring deposits for up to $250,000. Washington needs to stop renewing temporary programs, especially ones that increase the deficit and inhibit investment in the market. Peter Wallison said it best: "the one good thing about the TAG program is that it was scheduled to end on December 31, 2012."

Republican Senator Jim DeMint Resigns
Last Thursday, Senator Jim DeMint (R-SC) announced that he will leave the Senate to head the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think-tank in Washington DC, come January. This leaves South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley the task of appointing someone to take Sen. DeMint's place until a special election is held in 2014. Speculation from CNN and The Hill on who Gov. Haley will pick includes 5 Republicans:
Rep. Tim Scott, elected in 2010 to serve South Carolina's first congressional district.

Rep. Trey Gowdy, elected in 2010 to serve South Carolina's first congressional district. Before being elected, Gowdy served as the district attorney for South Carolina's seventh judicial circuit.

Henry McMaster, who from 2003 to 2011 served as South Carolina's attorney general. He ran for governor in 2010 but did not gain the Republican nomination.

Jenny Sanford, former first lady of South Carolina. She is an investment banker.

Catherine Templeton, the head of South Carolina's Department of Health and Environmental Control.

DeMint’s move and the growing frustration inside the GOP

◼ link - - Byron York/Washington Examiner (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)

...DeMint said many people were shocked that a U.S. senator would give up his seat. But given today’s political situation, he believes he will have greater influence — not just on the public debate generally but specifically on the Senate — from the outside. “I won’t be taking votes, but I guarantee you I will affect more votes at the Heritage Foundation than I do in the Senate.”

...“I just believed that Republicans have not been reliable partners of the conservative cause,” he said. “I think there is a lack of vision and boldness that we need at the national level. I’m not pointing to anyone in particular, but it’s been a long time since I’ve been in a conservative conference where someone stood up and just inspired people with a message of what we really stand for and what America needs at this point.”

The result of that continuing Republican weakness has been — no surprise — Democratic victories. The 2012 results convinced DeMint that those victories weren’t flukes and might go on for quite a while if Republicans don’t change. “After the election it was clear that a majority of Americans believe the Democratic Party can do more for them than Republicans,” DeMint said. “Yet I know, factually, provably, that conservative ideas are working at the state level all around the country. Right-to-work states are attracting businesses. School choice is working for minorities and the poor. And we can prove that Obama’s policies, liberal, progressive policies, in California, Illinois, New York — you can see where they’re going. We are going to continue to lose elections at the national level if we don’t convince Americans that our ideas are better.”

◼ Jim DeMint was the libertarian hero of the Senate - - Timothy P. Carney/Washington Examiner @TPCarney

For libertarians, Christian conservative pro-lifer Jim DeMint was the best thing to come through the Senate in decades. DeMint, quitting early to run the conservative Heritage Foundation, embodied an underappreciated fact of life in Washington: The politicians who most consistently defend economic liberty are the cultural conservatives.

The National Taxpayers Union gave DeMint a 93 percent rating last year, putting him third out of 100. DeMint scored 100 percent from the Club for Growth, whose sole focus is economic conservatism.

Until last year, DeMint was the only senator with a lifetime 100 percent from the Club for Growth. He still has a perfect record, but now he has company: Rand Paul, Mike Lee and Ron Johnson -- all pro-life conservative freshmen derided as "Jim DeMint disciples" by the likes of lobbyist Trent Lott....

Traditional morality and limited government aren't enemies. They're friends. DeMint proved that, and he left behind heirs who will continue to do so.

"We need to be ready when these policies bring the country to its knees"

◼ SEN. JIM DEMINT TELLS GLENN BECK WHY HE RESIGNED: ‘WE’RE NOT GOING TO WIN THINGS IN WASHINGTON UNTIL…’

U.S. Senator Jim DeMint, one of the strongest conservatives in Congress, announced this week that he will be resigning his seat in January to become the president of the Heritage Foundation.

As Republicans appear to be caving more and more to the demands of their political opponents, many have been wondering why DeMint chose this moment to leave.

“We’re not going to win things in Washington until we win the hearts and minds of the people...”

One of DeMint’s biggest frustrations is that– as the election made clear– many Americans believe the Democrat Party will serve their interests better than the Republicans.

“It makes me want to pull my hair out, because you can see in state after state how liberal policies [drive people out of business],” he lamented.

“I just realized that we’re not going to do anything positive at the federal level for the next four years,” he concluded, “but we need to be ready when these policies bring the country to its knees, with policies that really work.”

...Discussing the fiscal cliff, DeMint remarked: “Glenn, we have to separate what they consider political realities or political expediency from what our country really needs. What the president has been talking about is neither a plan nor a solution.”

DeMint noted that the proposed tax revenue is just a “drop in the bucket” of our national debt, and it will likely cost countless people their jobs.

“The idea that, if we take more money out of our economy and give it to incompetent, wasteful politicians [to solve the crisis] is completely irrational,” he said with disappointment.

DeMint Resigning from Senate to Head Heritage Foundation

◼ The Senate is set to lose one of its most influential conservative voices after South Carolina Sen. Jim DeMint announced on Thursday that he will step down. - Martin Gould/Newsmax

“I’m leaving the Senate now, but I’m not leaving the fight. I’ve decided to join The Heritage Foundation at a time when the conservative movement needs strong leadership in the battle of ideas. No organization is better equipped to lead this fight and I believe my experience in public office as well as in the private sector as a business owner will help Heritage become even more effective in the years to come.”

Praise arrived from around the conservative world for DeMint.

“Senator DeMint has done more to advance the cause of freedom and liberty in Congress than anyone else since his election,” said Chris Chocola, president of the anti-tax Club for Growth, in a statement congratulating the senator. “We wish him nothing but the best in his new role at Heritage.”

Republican Study Committee Chairman Jim Jordan praised DeMint.

“There is no better choice than Jim DeMint to lead this great organization. It is disappointing to lose his strong voice in the Senate, but I look forward to his continued conservative leadership at the helm of The Heritage Foundation," Jordan said in a statement. "The folks at Heritage are an indispensable ideas factory for conservatives in Congress. South Carolina’s loss is the country’s gain.”

DeMint: Boehner's $800B Tax Hike Will Let Politicians Spend Even More

◼ Conservative Republicans don't like what they're hearing from House Speaker John Boehner, the man in the middle of fiscal cliff negotiations. - CNS

Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) says Boehner's offer to raise $800 billion in taxes on the wealthy (partly by closing loopholes and limiting deductions) "will destroy American jobs and allow politicians in Washington to spend even more, while not reducing our $16 trillion debt by a single penny.”

..."Washington has a spending addiction that is shackling our children and grandchildren with unsustainable debt," he said. "Conservatives fought for a balanced budget amendment last year precisely because we knew the political establishment in Washington would never stop their tax and spend addiction without it.

"However," DeMint added, "if neither party leadership is going to put forward a serious plan to balance the budget and pay down the debt, we should end this charade. We can stop the fiscal cliff with the bill that House Republicans already passed that simply extends the current tax rates and replaces the defense cuts with reductions in wasteful spending.”

At long last, a Senate plan to balance the budget

◼ One of the biggest myths propagated by Washington's professional politicians is the idea that balancing the federal budget requires some sort of superhuman political and budgetary wisdom. - Washington Examiner EDITORIAL

Both political parties are afflicted with this defeatist thinking. President Obama's latest proposed federal spending blueprint is a depressing case in point. The Obama proposal assumes $47 trillion more spending, $1.9 trillion in new taxes and a national debt of $25.9 trillion -- at the end of the decade. Things look somewhat better over in the Republican-controlled House, where the budget committee's Road to Prosperity proposal cuts $4.4 trillion more from planned spending than the Obama budget, but only "puts the budget on the path to balance," rather than eliminating annual deficits entirely.

Now along comes the Senate Tea Party Caucus with a budget proposal -- dubbed "A Platform to Revitalize America" -- that not only balances federal spending and revenues in five years, but produces a $117 billion surplus in 2017. The plan is the handiwork of the three senators who make up the Senate Tea Party Caucus -- Jim DeMint, R-S.C., Rand Paul, R-Ky., and Mike Lee, R-Utah. "The whole point here is to show we can reasonably balance the budget within a five-year period. This idea that we have to look 30 years out to balance the budget is not only unnecessary, but it's improbable. We cannot continue to spend at our current rate for 10 more years, much less 20 or 30 more years. This is an urgent matter," said DeMint last week. Read the rest...