AOL News has a new home! The Huffington Post.

Click here to visit the new home of Politics Daily!

Hot on HuffPost:

See More Stories
Politics Daily
FEED
THE CAPITOLIST

Glenn Beck Rips Republicans in CPAC Show-Stopper

2 years ago
  0 Comments Say Something  »
Text Size
Patricia Murphy
Patricia Murphy
Capitol Hill Bureau Chief
Author Bio »
Contact Author »
Subscribe :
Glenn Beck, the Fox News personality and chalkboard-scrawling libertarian hero, gave the marquee speech Saturday night at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington.
Swapping out a teleprompter for his famous chalkboard, Beck wowed the faithful with an hour-long presentation that defended conservatism, praised the Founding Fathers and lampooned Washington, D.C. as an addict in need of immediate treatment. He looked to history to predict that without an immediate course correction and reduction of the federal budget deficit, America is headed for "an economic holocaust."
Beck began by praising Ronald Reagan, whose famous campaign ad "Morning in America" envisioned America's best days as still being ahead. "It is still morning in America," Beck said. "It just happens to be kind of a head-pounding, hung-over, vomiting for four hours kind of morning in America. And it's shaping up to be kind of a nasty day, but it is still morning in America."

Beck blamed Washington politicians for the country's poor condition, and accused both parties of growing the size of government, spending beyond the country's means, tolerating corruption, and embracing an array of liberal policy prescriptions that he equated with a cancer in American society.

Republicans, he said, are just as guilty as Democrats. "It's not enough just to not suck as much as the other side," he said. "The first step to recovery is admitting you have a problem. I have not heard people in the Republican Party admit they have a problem and when I did hear them say they have a problem, I don't know if I believed them."

The Republicans' problem, he said, is the same as Democrats' problem -- an addiction to spending, a willingness to place the judgment of the government ahead of the rights of individuals, and an interest in picking winners and losers, with the winners being big banks and irresponsible corporations, and the losers being small businesses and individuals.

"As I read the Constitution, the only job the U.S. government has is to save us from bad guys," he said. "And right now it seems to me the government looks at us as the bad guy."

In addition to out-of-control spending and power-hungry politicians, Beck said the country's lack of international competitiveness is endangering the future of the economy. "The rest of the world is about to kick our butts. Why? Because we're not doing the things to make ourselves competitive," he said. "Economic holocaust is coming. I'm trying to get you to save your money. The worst is still ahead of us, but no one has the spine in Washington to tell you that because they don't think you can handle that."

Finally, Beck said that the country can avoid calamity if it returns to its roots as a democracy that embraces individual freedoms, allows people to succeed and fail on their own, and finds a way to live within its means.
"It is a hard road. I know. I've walked it myself," he said. "But we will make it. And when we put our head down on our pillow at night, we can be happy, because we know tomorrow it will be morning again in America."

During the three-day gathering, conference attendees heard from other all-stars of the political right, and no fewer than five Republican presidential hopefuls for 2012. One of them, Rep. Ron Paul (R-Tex.), won the CPAC straw poll with 31 percent of the vote. Former Mass. Gov. Mitt Romney came in second with 22 percent, and Sarah Palin came in a distant third, with 7 percent.

Also speaking to the 10,000-plus attendees: Dick Armey, Newt Gingrich, Ann Coulter, and Andrew Breitbart, the founder of BigGovernment.com, as well as congressional darlings of the conservative movement such as Reps. Mike Pence (R-Ind.) and Michele Bachmann of Minnesota, and Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.).

Overall, CPAC 2010 showed that conservative activism is not only alive in America, but surging, as evidenced by the conference's 20 percent spike in attendance, as well as the often unbridled enthusiasm of the people attending. Those at Beck's presentation leapt to their feet in applause at many points during the program, including for the introduction of Beck's famous chalkboard. "It's sick," he joked. "When a chalkboard gets a standing ovation."
Filed Under: The Capitolist
Tagged: Conservative Political Action Conference, ConservativePoliticalActionConference, CPAC, Glenn Beck, GlennBeck
More articles from Patricia Murphy »

Our New Approach to Comments

In an effort to encourage the same level of civil dialogue among Politics Daily’s readers that we expect of our writers – a “civilogue,” to use the term coined by PD’s Jeffrey Weiss – we are requiring commenters to use their AOL or AIM screen names to submit a comment, and we are reading all comments before publishing them. Personal attacks (on writers, other readers, Nancy Pelosi, George W. Bush, or anyone at all) and comments that are not productive additions to the conversation will not be published, period, to make room for a discussion among those with ideas to kick around. Please read our Help and Feedback section for more info.

Add a Comment

Sign in »
*0 / 3000 Character Maximum Comment Moderation Enabled. Your comment will appear after it is cleared by an editor.

Follow Politics Daily

  • Comics
%PostTitle%
robert-and-donna-trussell
CHAOS THEORY
Featuring political comics by Robert and Donna TrussellMore>>
  • Woman UP Video
politics daily videos
Weekly Videos
Woman Up, Politics Daily's Online Sunday ShowMore»
politics daily videos
TV Appearances
Showcasing appearances by Politics Daily staff and contributors.More>>

News From Our Partners