Former House Majority Leader
Dick Armey tells Newsmax that the 2012 elections will leave the GOP in control of the presidency, Senate, and House, and tea party activists will oust “timid” Republicans who aren’t committed to small government.
The Texas Republican, chairman of FreedomWorks and a patriarch of the tea party movement, calls President Barack Obama a “romantic egalitarian” who is “quite confused,” asserts that Obamacare is a “monstrosity,” and says Rep. Paul Ryan’s plan to reduce spending is a “bold initiative” but doesn’t go far enough.
Armey served in the House from 1985 to 2003 and is the co-author of “Give Us Liberty: A Tea Party Manifesto.”
In an exclusive interview with Newsmax.TV, he says FreedomWorks — which claims 700,000 members — is gearing up for the 2012 elections and he is confident about the outcome.
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“We are searching for the right candidates for the next election cycle,” he says.
“We will make big changes in the next election cycle, bigger in fact than we did this cycle, because we’ll take the Senate, we’ll take the White House.
“We’ll once again remove those timid middle-of-the-road Republicans that don’t quite have the resolve to get in tough love with the budget, and we’ll replace them with people that really have a constitutional, small government commitment.
“So this is really going to be a busy time for us and we’re going to get the job done.”
Armey also says that Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels, who has been mentioned as a possible Republican presidential nominee, would be the “perfect pick” for the GOP, adding: “He’s exactly the man with the proven record that we’re looking for.”
Asked about the debate over raising the limit on federal debt, Armey responds: “The United States government is getting to be a bit of a financial basket case, and I think the new members in particular, and the conservative members in general, have got to draw a line in the sand.
“This is the perfect time for this government to do the right thing and do a balanced budget amendment, put a limit on government spending, demonstrate a resolve to America. Then let’s talk about raising the debt ceiling.”
House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan has proposed a plan to cut federal spending by $4.4 trillion over 10 years.
“By congressional standards it’s a pretty bold initiative, and we applaud Paul Ryan,” Armey says.
“It’s not enough. We need to do more. But let’s get a start going. I think at this point we should support the Ryan effort and demand that the Democrats get on board.”
Armey expresses doubts that President Obama will be willing to compromise with conservatives on a budget that reduces federal spending and deals with the increasing national debt.
“He’s such a hard-drawn, ideological, romantic egalitarian. When it comes to the really hard work of getting a budget resolved, he really doesn’t know how to get involved with the process, having never done it before.
“The solution is for the conservatives in Congress to keep the pressure on the liberals. They’re confused. They’re not that bright in the first place. But sooner or later they know they’ve got to come to some kind of reconciliation.
“The good news is that America is alarmed. America has this gigantic grass roots movement called the tea party movement that’s making demands on Congress. So I really think we can compel the Democrats to move in this direction if we stay with a certain uncompromising resolve to move forward with Ryan’s effort.”
Armey calls Obamacare “a trespass against the history of our American government, our American culture, our Constitution. We’ve got to get this resolved in the courts. It is a monstrosity that can bankrupt the nation.”
On Obama’s energy policy, he declares: “Obama has all the Greenpeace notions of how to limit the supply of energy in America. The man is really quite confused, very poorly uneducated and ill-informed on this whole subject matter.”
The solution to rising energy prices, he adds, is “a comprehensive energy policy that uses all the resources available to us. Get rid of this goofiness called ethanol and get focused on the real productive resources.
“There is a massive restructuring that has to take place following 20 years of environmental hypochondria.”
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