Kansas Sen. Sam Brownback touched on all the important issues during his speech at the CPAC Friday afternoon.
The presidential hopeful, running as THE social conservative in the race, started off by addressing the War on Terror.
"We must confront those who seek to do us harm and work with those who seek to work with us, Brownback said. He added that as Americans must pull together to face the confrontation, find solutions for war in Iraq, and support the troops who are fighting it.
On the illegal immigration issue, Brownback praised the border patrol for "doing a great job" and said, "We need to back them up." He also voiced his strong support for a fence along the border.
He said the Internal Revenue Code should be killed and pushed implementation of a flat tax because "we need to go to a different system."
Brownback said people should be able to choose between the two tax systems and said the same solution would work to fix problems with Social Security.
The senator said that while we need to move forward with privatized accounts, people should be able to opt in or out of a new system.
He urged his congressional colleagues to cut down on spending. "We have to get federal spending under control," he said.
Brownback discussed the need for energy solutions and said he supports nuclear energy production and the use of ethanol, whether corn-based or otherwise.
He insisted that "life begins at conception" and promised to appoint judges that would overturn Roe v. Wade. Brownback reaffirmed his belief that marriage should be between a man and a woman.
He also said that Americans shouldn't back away from their religious roots. "Faith is something to celebrate," he said.
Brownback closed his speech by saying, "This is America's time. Where much is given much is required. We are up to the task."
Note: What stood out to me about Brownback's speech was his ability to stand on his own -- unlike some other presidential candidates who spoke as CPAC, he didn't need to quote Reagan every other line to get applause. As I recall, he quoted Reagan once about government and that was it.
