Excerpts of Remarks to the Club for Growth

[Below is an excerpt from his remarks as prepared for delivery:]

"The tax code, with its length and hopeless complexity, is indicative of the entire federal government. In 2001, when I was Chairman of the Government Affairs Committee, I published a two-volume report on departments and agencies rife with overlap, duplication, waste, and lack of accountability. We found $20 billion in waste. It is not getting better. We have computers that do not talk to each other, and departments that cannot pass an audit. Every department needs a top-to-bottom review with a strict cost-benefit analysis applied to every program."

...

"There has been no greater friend to the American taxpayer than Fred Thompson, and there will be no greater friend than a Fred Thompson Administration. I ran as a consistent, tax-cutting, small government conservative. I supported all three major tax cuts put before me in the Senate. As Chairman of the Government Affairs Committee, I sought to save the American taxpayer $20 billion in wasteful spending. The Bush tax cuts must be made permanent, and we must cut government spending. I am the only consistent, pro-growth conservative in the race.

"While I was fighting for tax cuts in Congress, others were opposing tax cuts in New York state. Others were claiming not to be raising taxes but were instead raising every state-mandated fee and imposing 'hidden taxes' on unsuspecting taxpayers. While others were repudiating Reagan-Bush tax policies, I was fighting for them."